Department for Transport

Advertising

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) national newspaper advertisements, (d) local newspaper advertisements, (e) social media advertising and (f) other types of advertising in each year since 2010.

Claire Perry: I refer the hon Member to the answer given by my Rt Hon Friend, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Hon Member for Horsham (Francis Maude) on 17 March 2015 to Question UIN 227295http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-03-11/227295/

Transport: Berkshire

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to improve transport links between Windsor and (a) Reading and (b) London since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The electrification on the Windsor Branch forms part of the wider Great Western electrification scheme. We are working closely with Network Rail and the ORR to ensure delivery of these benefits as set out in the Rail Investment Strategy. Further investment has seen the modernisation of Reading Station area which is planned to be completed this Easter at a cost of £895m.  In addition, The Government launched the Roads Investment Strategy on 1 December 2014. The M4 Junctions 3-12 smart motorway project to upgrade the M4 from east of Heathrow to west of Reading continues to be progressed. The Highways Agency intends to submit a Development Consent Order (DCO) application for the scheme at the end of March. Subject to planning consent and the final business case, construction could start in late 2016. The Highways Agency is also delivering a £2.5 million pinch point scheme to relieve traffic congestion at the M4/A329 (M) junction. On 29 January the Government also announced a £10.2m expansion of the Growth Deal with the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). We understand the LEP intends to use around £7.5m of that additional funding for 4 new local transport schemes, taking the total funding for local transport improvements as part of the Growth Deal to over £100m, supporting delivery of 20 transport projects across Berkshire.

Motorway Service Areas

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2014 to Question 215438, and with reference to the speech of 4 February 2015 to CPRE and the Campaign for Better Transport by the Minister of State in his Department, what steps the Government is taking to work with local authorities and the private sector to improve service stations.

Mr John Hayes: It is Government policy that the provision of parking and other facilities is generally a matter for the private sector and local authorities, who are best placed to judge local traffic conditions and needs.As I said in my speech of 4 February, I take a keen interest in the quality and aesthetic of service stations, and I intend shortly to establish a panel to look at what could be done further to improve standards; looking at their design and the services they offer.In addition, I note the Honourable Member for Devizes (Claire Perry) is working closely with stakeholders in the haulage and freight industry and is keen to improve service station facilities for HGV drivers.

Dartford-Thurrock Crossing

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2014 to Question 216696, what assessment he has made of the success of the European debt recovery agency in recovering outstanding charges.

Mr John Hayes: It is too soon to assess the success rate of the European debt recovery agency (EDRA) in recovering outstanding charges. 33,100 penalty charge notices have been issued to the EDRA since mid-February. The Highways Agency is closely monitoring and capturing information relating to charges paid.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number and (b) pay of construction workers that will be employed to build High Speed 2 for each month taken for that construction.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Indicative construction programmes are set out in the Environmental Statement submitted to Parliament in the Community Forum Area Volume 2 reports. These programmes will be developed further through the hybrid Bill and detailed design process. Information on the number of construction workers required and pay details for each month during construction can only be fully determined after Royal Assent. The cost will be delivered within the funding envelope for HS2. For Phase One it is estimated there will be: 14,600 construction jobs2,200 operations & maintenance jobs5,480 supply chain jobs30,000 jobs supported by stations & depots The figures have been published in the HS2 Phase One Environmental Statement Non-technical summary section 7.10. The document is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-phase-one-environmental-statement-non-technical-summary

Highways Agency

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of whistleblowing procedures at the Highways Agency.

Mr John Hayes: All whistle blowing correspondence notified to the Agency is logged on a central database, which includes action taken to resolve issues arising. The log is overseen by the Agency’s Counter Fraud Committee (CFC) and updates on individual cases are produced as required. The CFC is chaired by the Agency’s Finance Director, and includes a Non Executive Director, the Procurement and Commercial Services Director and the Head of Audit and Assurance. The CFC continually review the effectiveness of whistle blowing procedures. The CFC reports any issues of concern to the Agency’s Audit Committee.

Home Office

Advertising

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) national newspaper advertisements, (d) local newspaper advertisements, (e) social media advertising and (f) other types of advertising in each year since 2010.

Karen Bradley: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 17 March 2015 to UIN:227295.

Research

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what amount her Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.

Karen Bradley: Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish annual outturn figures for R&D expenditure here:http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/rdit1/science--engineering-and-technology-statistics/2012/stb-set-2012.html#tab-Key-Points The most recent publication, which includes expenditure figures to 2012 (financial year 2012/13) was published on 11 July 2014. The table below shows the latest estimates for Home Office and how they compare as a percentage to total departmental expenditure. YearPublished estimate of net spend on R & D IN Home Office (current prices) Percentage of total Home Office expenditure (1)2010/11£42 million0.31%2011/12£24 million0.18%2012/13£18 million0.14%   (1) Taken as a percentage of the total departmental spending estimate from page 153 of the Annual Report and Accounts 2013/14The change in the estimate of the R & D spend in Home Office between 2010/11 and 2011/12 is largely explained by some structural changes in scientific teams as well as a change in the method of estimation between the two years. The figures for 2011/12 also excluded the British Crime Survey responsibility for which was transferred to the ONS the following year. In addition some significant savings on Home Office research contracts were made in both 2011/12 and 2012/13. The government has also created new delivery mechanisms for services such as the locally accountable Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), the new Police ICT Company that provides vital support to the police and PCCs with tools to achieve value for money and operational effectiveness, and the creation of a competitive market to provide Forensic Science Services to the police. These changes are likely to result in some R & D investment being delivered outside the Home Office.Overall our science and research programmes are flexible and respond to our policy and operational priorities. This leads to a changing expenditure profile between financial years as research is directed against current and emerging challenges.

Private Rented Housing

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many enquiries from landlords to the Home Office Landlords Helpline (a) have been concluded and (b) are outstanding.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 19 March 2015



The Immigration Act 2014 is restricting the ability of people with no right to be in this country to access our public services and to rent private housing. The landlord checks began in parts of the West Midlands on 1 December 2014. Since then there have been 636 enquiries to the Landlords Helpline. All have been concluded.

Private Rented Housing

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many calls the Home Office Landlords Helpline has (a) logged and (b) responded to from each local authority area in each month since its inception.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 19 March 2015



The geographical source of each enquiry is not broken down into local authority area.

Private Rented Housing

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken has been by the Home Office Landlords Helpline between receipt of a call to the conclusion of the enquiries from each local authority area in each month since its inception.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 19 March 2015



The average waiting time for a customer is six seconds and average call length duration is 3 minutes 29 seconds since the Landlords Helpline opened on 3 September 2014. The geographical source of each enquiry is not broken down into local authority area.

Private Rented Housing

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many inquiries the Home Office Landlords Helpline has received from outside the West Midlands since its inception.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 19 March 2015



Since the opening of the Landlords Helpline 258 enquiries were identified as coming from landlords or agents outside the West Midlands.

Police: Death

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have died while on duty in each year since 2010.

Mike Penning: The table provided contains data on the number of full-time equivalent police officers who died whilst on active duty in England and Wales, from 2009/10 to 2013/14.These figures include both those killed in the line of duty and those who died from other causes such as road traffic accidents or natural causes.  Number of full-time equivalent1 police officers who died whilst on active duty2, England and Wales, 2009/10 to 2013/14 2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14  Deaths on active duty885126  1. This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been presented to the nearest whole number.2. Total police officer leavers by rank and gender are published in the Police Workforce, England and Wales statistical publications and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.Breakdowns by leaving type (i.e. deaths on active duty) are not regularly published; these figures have not been verified by police forces and are provisional.

National Centre for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding her Department has allocated to the National Centre for the 3Rs in the present financial year.

Lynne Featherstone: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Entry Clearances: Syria

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of recent trends in the rate of acceptances of visa applications for Syrians visiting the UK; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 19 March 2015



Application volumes, issue and refusal rates of visa applications from all nationalities are monitored on an ongoing basis. All visa applications made by Syrian nationals are considered on a case by case basis, on their individual merits, and in accordance with the Immigration Rules.

Asylum: Syria

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people resettled in the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme were principal applicants.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Syria

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules tabled on 16 March 2015, HC1116, on the number of applications made by Syrian nationals for asylum in the UK.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 19 March 2015



An analysis of asylum claims made by Syrian nationals, in the eighteen month period ending November 2014, showed some Syrian asylum claimants were found to have abused the UK’s transit without visa provisions using a US issued visa. Applicants used their US visas to arrive in the UK to claim asylum rather than to transit to an onward destination as the provisions intend. The change made by HC1116 will stop this abuse.

Asylum: Housing

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of support provided under sections 4 and 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 19 March 2015



Asylum seekers are supported under section 95 if they would otherwise be destitute. Failed asylum seekers are supported under section 4 if they would otherwise be destitute and there is a temporary barrier that prevents their departure from the UK.The assistance available to both groups consists of accommodation (with gas, electricity and water provided free) and a weekly allowance to buy food and other essential items. They are also able to access healthcare and education.The Home Office keeps these arrangements under regular review and is satisfied they are an effective way of ensuring people are not left destitute.

Asylum

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to improve the efficiency of the asylum system.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office have a number of Asylum Improvement projects underway. We are reviewing asylum processes to provide a better experience for our customers such as moving administrative tasks from the asylum interview into the screening process or revising decision letters to make them more user-friendly for customers. We are also implementing a number of pilot initiatives to modernise our case working processes including exploring the use of Summary Notes within our asylum interviews. At the same time we are looking to invest in technology to automatically obtain a transcript of an asylum interview. This should improve the efficiency of our interviewing process and reduce the need for our customers to have lengthy interviews regarding their claim whilst we are also looking to expand on the use of video conferencing equipment to build greater flexibility into the asylum case working process and to realise potential savings. We are seeking to digitalise our work where possible, removing the need for paper-based files so our work can be moved around the country to meet service demands. We have also made improvements to our decision making processing times. We aim to decide all straightforward asylum claims within six months. We recognise that asylum cases are often complex and require our full and thorough consideration, meaning that some decisions will take longer than six months. Those cases that do take longer than six months are actively managed to ensure they are concluded as promptly as possible. We have significantly improved our suite of guidance on considering asylum claims, including key instructions on asylum interviews and assessing credibility. We have streamlined processes by reducing the volume of paperwork required and cutting duplication in the asylum process, including improvements to the way in which decisions are explained to applicants in correspondence to make it easier to understand. These changes are designed to support caseworkers to improve decision quality and efficiency to ensure we grant protection where it is needed whilst refusing unfounded claims more quickly, whilst also ensuring a more customer focused approach.

Police: Pensions

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the debate on police widows pensions of 25 February, Official Report, columns 126-133WH, what steps she is taking to ensure all police widowers receive life-long pensions.

Mike Penning: The Chancellor announced in the Budget on 18 March that the Government will ensure that all widows, widowers and civil partners of police officers and firefighters who are killed on duty will no longer lose their survivor benefits if they remarry, cohabit, or form a civil partnership.The Home Office and Department for Communities and Local Government will set out further details in due course.

ICT

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which news applications staff in her Department are authorised to download and use on their work-provided phones and tablets.

Karen Bradley: Home Office information technology policy precludes the downloading of unauthorised applications to Home Office-issued equipment and in most cases, such equipment is modified to prevent the downloading of any applications at all. A limited number of approved communications staff (such as press office) have access to social media or news sites via downloaded applications on mobile devices and while this is subject to standard rules governing appropriate use of Home Office technology, there are no restrictions on which news sites may be accessed in this manner.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Russia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that Russia remains a member of the Council of Europe.

Mr David Lidington: The Government believes that in the current circumstances, Russia should remain a member of the Council of Europe. The UK actively engages with Russia in the Council of Europe, encouraging Russia to embed the high standards in the field of human rights, the rule of law and democracy to which it has signed up to through its membership. We are equally pressing for greater scrutiny and challenge of Russia’s behaviour through Council of Europe mechanisms. We will continue to work in the Council of Europe and other international organisations of which Russia is a member, such as the UN and the Organisation for Security and Cooporation in Europe, to uphold the rules and standards that Russia has signed up to, and to bring more pressure to bear when Russia fails to meet its commitments. This approach is more constructive than one of isolation, which would shield Russia from international pressure and vigilance, and it is supported by the majority of human rights campaigns in Russia with whom we have had contact.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 2 February 2015 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr M Woronycz.

Mr David Lidington: My right hon. Friend the member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond) replied to the the Right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton's letter of 2 February 2015 with regard to Mr M Woronycz, on 13 March 2015.

Turkey

Mr George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, of which country's intelligence agencies the official arrested in Turkey in connection with the British girls who ran away from home to join ISIS is a member; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: We are grateful to Turkey for the close cooperation on all aspects of counter-terrorism work. We continue to work closely with the Turkish National Police Force and Turkish Embassy on this case. It is the long-standing policy of successive governments not to comment on intelligence matters.

Antarctic Treaty

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on which nations have (a) successfully incorporated and (b) are in the process of incorporating relevant measures of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty into domestic law.

James Duddridge: 37 countries have ratified the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty and its first five annexes. This comprises all 29 Consultative Parties, i.e. those with voting rights at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, and eight non-Consultative Parties. In addition, twelve Consultative Parties have ratified Annex VI of the Environmental Protocol on liability arising from an environmental emergency. A further three Consultative Parties have notified of their progress towards ratification of Annex VI. Annex VI will come into force when ratified by all 28 Consultative Parties that were entitled to attend the twenty-eighth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

Human Rights Advisory Group

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the sub-group on Freedom of Expression of the Human Rights Advisory Group last met; and when the next meeting of that sub-group is planned.

Mr David Lidington: The Expert Group on Freedom of Expressiom met on 10 March, chaired by Baroness Anelay. There are no further meetings planned before the end of this Parliament.

Burma

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Burma on the detention of students and other activists protesting against the education reform law in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: Our Ambassador raised the importance of restrained policing of the student demonstrations at an early stage of the protests with the Burmese Deputy Minister of Home Affairs. Officials from our Embassy in Rangoon have been in further contact with the Burmese authorities at various times during their course, and we have coordinated action through our EU counterparts locally. We have also been in touch with members of Burmese civil society, including the 88 Generation movement. We have publicly expressed our concerns at the violence that occurred in Letpadan on 10 March, which undermined an otherwise disciplined approach to policing these protests. The right to peaceful demonstration is a fundamental democratic freedom. The exact circumstances leading to these clashes remain unclear. The UK supports the EU’s call for a formal investigation to be initiated swiftly. We also welcome the government of Burma’s announcement of an investigation into the events of 5 March, in which irregular forces were used to break up a student protest in Rangoon. We encourage the government of Burma to extend this investigation to include the events of 10 March, and we call for all remaining demonstrators to be released. The development of a professional police force that respects and upholds human rights and the rule of law is fundamental to Burma’s transition to full democracy.

Pay

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many and what proportion of staff (a) of his Department and (b) working for companies contracted by his Department in Scotland are paid less than the living wage.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: No member of staff directly employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is paid less than the Living Wage. The FCO does not have any premises in Scotland where staff directly, or through contracts, are employed.We do not hold details of individual staff salaries for our suppliers and this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Overseas Students

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to attract non-EU students to universities in England and Wales.

Greg Clark: Holding answer received on 27 February 2015



In 2013/14 there were more non-EU international students studying in the UK than ever before (310,200). More recent data from UCAS show a continuing growth trend for undergraduates: in 2014/15 there was an increase on the previous year of 5.7% in the number of overseas accepted applicants; and for 2015/16, February figures show the number of overseas applicants higher than at the same stage last year.   In 2013 Government published its International Education Strategy which includes a range of measures to strengthen the UK’s attractiveness as a study destination. For example, promotion activity through the Education UK brand, which is managed by the British Council, the ‘Britain is GREAT’ marketing campaign, which has an education pillar and ministerial engagement with overseas Governments through international visits. This promotes the breadth of the UK’s higher education offer and long-term education relationships through partnerships between UK and overseas institutions.

Chief Scientific Advisers

Mr Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what periods there has been a vacancy for the role of Chief Scientific Advisor in his Department during the 2010-15 Parliament.

Greg Clark: This post was vacant from 1 June 2011 to 9 January 2012.The post became vacant again on 10th January 2015 and a recruitment process is underway to appoint a replacement.The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) also benefits from the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser being based in BIS.

Trade Missions: Nuclear Power

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support UK Trade and Investment has given to (a) the Nuclear Industry Association and (b) private nuclear companies to participate in trade missions it organised or supported in the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: The data below details the support given since the establishment of the UKTI Events and Missions Team in 2012; to gather information from further back would incur disproportionate costs.   Since 2012 UKTI has supported, 74 unique private nuclear companies on nine outward trade missions at a total cost of £63,500. The details are:   2012   April- nuclear decommissioning to Japan November- nuclear decommissioning and waste management to Korea November- nuclear decommissioning and waste management to Japan   2013   October-general nuclear mission-Korea   2014   January-mission to Korea Atomic Industrial Forum January-mission to UK-China Civil Nuclear July-mission to Nuclear Dialogue-Japan September-mission to Radiex-Japan   2015   November-mission to Taiwan   The NIA has participated in three events, Japan in April 2012; Korea in November 2012 and UK-China in January 2014.

Regional Growth Fund

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support the Regional Growth Fund has provided for the Civil Nuclear Sharing in Growth programme in each year since 2010 Regional Growth Fund.

Greg Clark: The Civil Nuclear Sharing in Growth Programme has been allocated £27.3 million from the Regional Growth Fund.

Science: Finance

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on continuing the ring-fencing of science revenue spending; and if he will make it his policy to increase that budget in line with inflation.

Greg Clark: Holding answer received on 11 March 2015



I refer my hon Friend to the reply I gave to my hon friend the Member for Hendon (Dr Matthew Offord) to question 225412.

Medicine: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of reasons for regional per capita disparities in the distribution of medical research funding.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of reasons for regional per capita disparities in the distribution of Research Councils' funding.

Greg Clark: Holding answer received on 12 March 2015



The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not made any assessment of reasons for differences in regional per capita distribution of Research Council funding. Research Council funding is awarded on the basis of the excellence of the research proposal assured through peer view.

Students: Loans

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the proposed timetable is for his consultation on the introduction of loans for postgraduate students.

Greg Clark: The public consultation on the proposed postgraduate loan schemes will be launched shortly.

Cybercrime

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of (a) the value of and (b) the number of jobs provided by the cyber-security industry in the UK in the last five years.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Official statistics for the cyber security sector have been available since 2013. They indicate that in 2013 (the latest figures currently available) the UK cyber security sector was worth over £6 billion and employed around 40,000 people. The Government is committed to the continued development of the cyber security sector, which is why we established the Cyber Growth Partnership as the primary vehicle for joint industry–Government initiatives to grow a vibrant sector, both domestically and in overseas markets.

Research

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what amount his Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.

Jo Swinson: Information on the total amount of expenditure by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on both research and development and the total departmental spending on services is publically available on gov.uk as part of the Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistical release. This information covers 2009-10 through to 2013-14 and can be found at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2014 This data can be accessed by using either the ‘interactive tables’ or the ‘database’. The CRA is compiled from departmental spending data submitted to HM Treasury on services, split by sub-functions. This data that each department provides, uses internationally-agreed definitions called the Classifications of the Functions of Government (UN COFOG). These functions include and separately identify expenditure on various Research and Development activities.

Patents

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps he has taken to reform statute pertaining to patent.

Mr Edward Vaizey: On 10 June 2014 the Government launched a Technical Review and Call for Evidence on the Secondary Legislation Implementing the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court and EU Regulations Establishing the Unitary Patent. On 1 October 2014 the Legislative Reform (Patents) Order 2014 and changes to patent law in the Intellectual Property Act 2014, and consequential amendments to the Patents Rules 2007, came into force. The details of these changes are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/1-october-2014-changes-to-design-and-patent-law. On 26 February 2015 the Government issued its response to the Law Commission’s report on the law relating to the making of groundless threats to bring proceedings for infringement of patents, trade marks and design rights.

Adult Education: Yorkshire and the Humber

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding has been allocated for adult skills in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) each parliamentary constituency in Yorkshire and the Humber in 2015-16; and what the percentage change is between that funding and the funding allocated in 2014-15.

Nick Boles: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Adult Education: North East

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the budget for funding of adult skills in (a) the North East and (b) Stockton North constituency is for 2015-16; and what the percentage change is from that budget in 2014-15.

Nick Boles: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Adult Education: West Midlands

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the budget for the funding of adult skills in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Birmingham, Northfield constituency is in 2015-16; and what the percentage change is from the 2014-15 adult skills budget.

Nick Boles: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

New Businesses: Government Assistance

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many Start Up loans have been awarded since the introduction of that scheme in each parliamentary constituency; and what the total value of those loans is in each parliamentary constituency.

Matthew Hancock: Information on the number of Start Up Loans awarded in each constituency and the total value of loans made in each constituency is attached. 



Start up loans by constituency
(Word Document, 77.4 KB)

Pay

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many and what proportion of staff (a) of his Department and (b) working for companies contracted by his Department in Scotland are paid less than the living wage.

Jo Swinson: There are no direct employees in this Department paid less than the living wage, either nationally or in Scotland.   We do not centrally hold details of the pay levels of staff working for companies contracted by the Department. However on 1 April 2014 my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills confirmed a requirement for companies contracted by the Department to increase the wages of their lowest paid workers to £7.85.

Advertising

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2015 to Question 226592, what forecast he has made of expenditure on advertising and communications for March 2015.

Jo Swinson: We estimate that spend in March on advertising and communications will be around £4m. Full details of our spend will be published in our Annual Report and Accounts later in the year.   The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has been responsible for running some major campaigns over the course of this financial year. These include promoting the take up and increasing awareness of apprenticeships via the Get in, Go Far campaign and increasing awareness of new rights for shared parental leave and flexible working. We have also encouraged businesses to grow and take advantage of support that is available through the Business is GREAT Britain and Do More Online campaigns and also encouraging the take up of Growth Vouchers

Post Offices

Mr Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to his Department's announcement of 27 November 2013 on Post Office branch modernisation, how many Post Offices have benefited to date from the dedicated fund to support smaller community branches.

Jo Swinson: Since the landmark £20 million Post Office Community Fund started accepting applications in June 2014 more than 340 Community post offices have applied for funding. More than 250 of these proposals have been approved to date and of these more than 85 have been completed, bringing significant benefits to communities, customers and subpostmasters across the UK. The fund remains open for applications and the Government encourages eligible branches to apply for investment.

Department for International Development

West Africa: Ebola

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many (a) NHS staff and (b) NHS staff in Plymouth have been involved in operations to control the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.

Justine Greening: UK-Med is working with the Department for International Development (DFID), Department of Health and International NGOs to recruit NHS volunteers through its International Emergency Medical Register (UKIEMR) to work in a number of DFID-funded Ebola Treatment Centres in Sierra Leone.   To date, UK-Med has deployed 153 NHS volunteers including 3 NHS volunteers from Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust.   I pay tribute to the bravery and professionalism of the fantastic NHS workers from Plymouth who are helping to defeat Ebola, some of whom I have been lucky enough to meet in Sierra Leone. Their hard work has saved countless lives.

Department for Education

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 3 February 2015 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr T Cook.

Mr David Laws: I replied to the Rt Hon Member for Manchester, Gorton on 19 February. I have arranged for a copy to be resent to the Rt Hon Member’s office.

Schools: Standards

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students are taught in schools rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding in (a) the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, (b) Berkshire and (c) the UK.

Mr David Laws: As Ofsted is responsible for the requested statistics, this is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. A copy of his reply will be placed in the library of the House.

Children: Day Care

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost per child of administering 15 hours a week of free childcare for children aged three and four in each of the last five years.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost per child of administering 15 hours a week of free childcare for children aged three and four in each of the next three years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education has not made a per child estimate of the administration cost of delivering the funded entitlement to 15 hours a week of free childcare for children aged three and four.

Children: Day Care

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many in-work families with children aged three or four receive 15 hours a week of free childcare.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of how many children aged three and four will receive 15 hours a week of free childcare in each of the next three years.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many in-work families with children aged three or four received 15 hours a week of free childcare in Coventry in each of the last five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education does not collect information at family level on three- or four-year-olds receiving funded early education. The number of children receiving funded early education is published in the statistical first release entitled 'Provision for under five years of age': https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-childcare-and-early-years Under the current policy for three- and four-year-old children receiving 15 hours a week of free childcare, we estimate that the numbers of children will be: 890,000 in 2015, 910,000 in 2016, and 920,000 in 2017. There is inherent uncertainty in these estimates, given their link to population projections and parental decisions.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners' Release

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prisoners were released without accommodation from each private prison in England and Wales in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available.

Andrew Selous: We are fully committed to the rehabilitation of offenders so as to turn their lives around and reduce the risk of their re-offending in future. Dealing with their accommodation needs on release from prison is an integral part of that. The table below shows the number and percentage of offenders by recorded type of accommodation on discharge from contracted-out prisons 2013-14. Contracted Prisons: Accommodation on Release  Settled Accommodation on Release% Settled Accommodation on ReleaseNot in Settled Accommodation on Release% Not in settled Accommodation on releaseTotal Offender Releases2011/1213,77590.5%1,4459.5%15,2202012/1314,29784.9%2,53715.1%16,8342012/13 excluding HMP Thameside13,89290.2%1,5069.8%15,3982013/1416,07691.6%1,4728.4%17,548NotesSettled accommodation covers the following categories: permanent housing, supported housing, approved premises, other hostels and BASS accommodation.Not in settled accommodation means: transient/short term accommodation, No Fixed Address, or No Information.Figures for 2012/13 are shown both including and excluding HMP Thameside, whose low outcomes in their first year of operation impacted on the overall outcomes.  The figures show that less than 5% of prisoners were recorded as being of no fixed abode upon release from contracted-out prisons in 2013-14. The figures in the above table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. It should also be noted that recorded accommodation type is based on prisoner self-reporting. We are aware of the inherent limitations in relying on self-reporting and are developing alternative measures aimed at ensuring that prisons and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) managing low and medium risk offenders fulfil their respective roles in preparing prisoners for release and helping them to find suitable accommodation. Under the Government’s Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, all prisoners will benefit from a universal resettlement service and genuine continuity of provision ‘Through the Gate’ from custody to the community. We have established a network of Resettlement Prisons to facilitate the smooth transition from custody to community to enable the new CRCs to work with those prisoners returning to their local area.

Prison Visitors

Sir Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the contribution of the work of Official Prison Visitors; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve the recruitment, training, management and deployment of Official Prison Visitors; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Official Prison Visitors (OPVs) help maintain important links between prisoners and the community by visiting and offering friendship. This is often, but not always, where prisoners have no other visitors. OPVs are appointed locally by Governors, and Directors of contracted prisons, and their training is also a local matter. There are no plans to change this approach. It is open to OPVs to join the National Association of Official Prison Visitors, which is an independent organisation that promotes, maintains and supports Official Prison Visiting. It also helps to encourage and co-ordinate the work of OPVs both at local and national level.

Prisons: Counselling

Sir Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the respective responsibilities are of (a) prison governors and (b) prison chaplains in developing effective counselling and support for vulnerable prisoners; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) commissions services from a range of providers to support its core aims of protecting the public and reducing reoffending. In addressing offending behaviour the emphasis is on targeted, structured cognitive behavioural therapy programmes which address criminogenic need rather than through the use of counselling as a tool. However, counselling services for vulnerable prisoners can be offered if the need is identified either through assessment or psychological intervention. Any counselling provided in this way would be on an individual, case-by-case basis to meet the specific needs presented. Safer custody is at the heart of prison management. We are committed to supporting vulnerable prisoners and reducing suicide and self-harm. Prison governors have the overall responsibility for the provision of safe, decent and secure prison environments, in line with NOMS' first Commissioning Intention. All prisoners are assessed for potential harm to themselves, to others and from others on reception into custody, and residential staff are required to ensure that prisoners are supported and their daily needs are met. They also play a key role in spotting any signs of distress, anxiety or anger which might lead to prisoners harming themselves. All prisoners who are identified as being at risk of self harm or suicide are subject to the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process and receive a detailed assessment by a trained ACCT assessor within 24 hours of the ACCT Plan being opened. The results inform the first case review, at which a CAREMAP is devised, setting out the actions that will be taken to reduce the risk posed by the prisoner. This includes considering whether a referral for mental health care or drug/alcohol services is appropriate and making any such referral. The prisoner is then managed using the ACCT process, overseen by a case manager, until the risk has been reduced. The process includes a post-closure phase to ensure that the progress made by the prisoner has been maintained and that there are no risks that require the ACCT to be re-opened. Chaplaincy teams in prisons play a vital role in providing pastoral care to prisoners, through both one-to-one and group work. Prison Chaplains have a statutory duty to see prisoners at reception, and each day while they are confined in the Segregation or Health Care Units to provide support at these times of particular vulnerability and isolation. Chaplaincy teams work closely with the Safer Custody team to provide support to prisoners at risk of self harm, and to those bereaved or going through particular crisis. A wide range of activities and courses are run by the Chaplaincy including in the areas of loss and bereavement (which can include drawing on the services of professional bereavement Counsellors), and life skills. Many volunteers from local faith communities and organisations provide support for prisoners through chaplaincy teams.

Justices' Clerks: Training

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training and information is given to magistrates' clerks to ensure that they operate in accordance with the Armed Forces Covenant.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The responsibility for the training of Magistrates and their legal advisers lies with the Lord Chief Justice as head of the judiciary and is exercised through the Judicial College.The Government’s response to the November 2014 Stephen Phillips’ Review into ‘Former Members of the Armed Forces and the Criminal Justice System’, included a commitment by the Judicial College to consider whether the Bench Book should be updated to include former service personnel as a separate group.The Judicial College concluded that their Equal Treatment Bench Book already sufficiently covers many of the important aspects of fair treatment and makes some suggestions as to the steps that judges can take in different situations, to ensure that there is fairness and equality of outcome for all those involved in the justice process.

Prisoners

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners there were in (a) HMP Belmarsh, (b) HMP Feltham, (c) HMP Isis, (d) HMP Pentonville, (e) HMP Thameside, (f) HMP Wandsworth and (g) HMP Wormwood Scrubs on 1 March (i) 2010 and (ii) 2015; and how many such prisoners were (A) Muslim and (B) foreign nationals.

Mr Shailesh Vara: We believe that foreign national offenders who have no right to remain in the UK should be removed at the earliest opportunity. That's why this Government has toughened the system, including by pursuing compulsory transfer agreements with European countries. The Home Office have removed 22,000 foreign offenders since 2010 and this Government is removing 300 offenders under new 'deport first, appeal later' powers, with another 500 going through the system. We have cut the grounds on which criminals can appeal deportation. Data in the exact format requested is not available but the table below sets out the information requested for each prison at the closest available dates.  31 March 201031 December 2014 (1)HMP BELMASH  Prison population862881Foreign National Prisoners166217Muslim prisoners127265HMYOI FELTHAM  Prison population657550Foreign National Prisoners17982Muslim prisoners211187HMP ISIS (2)  Prison population---620Foreign National Prisoners---81Muslim prisoners---261HMP PENTONVILLE  Prison Population1,2161,309Foreign National Prisoners357393Muslim prisoners267379HMP THAMESIDE (3)  Prison population---894Foreign National Prisoners---237Muslim prisoners---242HMP WANDSWORTH  Prison population1,6311,623Foreign National Prisoners572582Muslim prisoners330364HMP WORMWOOD SCRUBS  Prison population1,2981,188Foreign National Prisoners447441Muslim Prisoners305343 1) The latest date for which data is available.2) HMP Isis opened in July 2010.3) HMP Thameside opened in March 2012, and became fully operational in Autumn 2012.The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisons: Mobile Phones

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many mobile telephones and sim cards were found in (a) HMP Belmarsh, (b) HMP Feltham, (c) HMP Isis, (d) HMP Pentonville, (e) HMP Thameside, (f) HMP Wandsworth and (g) HMP Wormwood Scrubs in each year between 2010 and 2014.

Andrew Selous: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) takes the issues of mobile phones in prison very seriously and is committed to addressing the risks that they present. This is being achieved through a multi-layered approach to: minimise the number of mobile phones entering prisons, find phones that do get in and disrupt mobile phones that cannot be found. It is already an offence to convey into or possess mobile phones or SIM cards within prison. New powers introduced in the Serious Crime Act will allow for unauthorised mobile phones to be de-activated if they are shown to be operating within a prison. NOMS is also investing in a range of new technology to detect phones within prison and block phone signals. Prisons are increasingly able to detect and seize illicit phones. The number of finds in each prison establishment for the calendar years 2010 through to 2014 is shown in the table below. Please note that one find may constitute a mobile phone handset containing one SIM card or media card, a handset only, or a SIM card only.  Total Finds20102011201220132014HMP Belmarsh7259118175HMP Feltham3365451827HMP Isis[1]34739164HMP Pentonville23174133152207HMP Thameside[2]0099734HMP Wandsworth63121118113163HMP Wormwood Scrubs6524539146239 All figures in this answer have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.[1] HMP Isis became operational in mid-2010[2] HMP Thameside became operational in late 2012

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serious assaults on staff there were in HM Prison (a) Belmarsh, (b) Feltham, (c) Isis, (d) Pentonville, (e) Thameside, (f) Wandsworth and (g) Wormwood Scrubs in each year since 2010.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoner on staff assaults there were in HM Prison (a) Belmarsh, (b) Feltham, (c) Isis, (d) Pentonville, (e) Thameside, (f) Wandsworth and (g) Wormwood Scrubs in each year since 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not tolerate violence of any kind in prison and any assault is treated extremely seriously. A new joint protocol produced by the National Offender Management Service, Crown Prosecution Service and Association of Chief Police Officers was introduced on 27 February 2015. This puts robust and consistent arrangements in place to ensure that where possible, assaults on prison staff will be referred to the police for investigation and will be prosecuted through the courts.  Figures for serious assaults on staff at (a) Belmarsh, (b) Feltham, (c) Isis, (d) Pentonville, (e) Thameside, (f) Wandsworth and (g) Wormwood Scrubs in each year between 2010 and 2013 are provided in table 1.Table 1: Serious (1) assaults on staff, 2010 to 2013 2010201120122013Belmarsh33103Feltham104513Isis (2)0537Pentonville7327Thameside (3)--016Wandsworth6334Wormwood Scrubs81293 Key: ‘-‘ Establishment not operational Notes on table:(1) An assault is classified as serious if it complies with the definition set out in Prison Service Instruction 9/2014 the Incident Management Manual.(2) Isis opened in July 2010(3) Thameside opened in March 2012  Figures for prisoner assaults on staff at (a) Belmarsh, (b) Feltham, (c) Isis, (d) Pentonville, (e) Thameside, (f) Wandsworth and (g) Wormwood Scrubs in each year between 2010 and 2013 are provided in table 2Table 2: Assaults on staff, 2010 to 2013 2010201120122013Belmarsh20243418Feltham124119112141Isis9506656Pentonville78968171Thameside--51168Wandsworth59683021Wormwood Scrubs678610282 The National statistics for prisoner assaults on staff are published quarterly in the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. Recent publications can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics and https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/399135/safety-in-custody-assaults-sep-14.xls. The next publication on 30 April 2015 will include statistics for 2014.

Prisoners

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners in (a) HMP Belmarsh, (b) HMP Feltham, (c) HMP Isis, (d) HMP Pentonville, (e) HMP Thameside, (f) HMP Wandsworth and (g) HMP Wormwood Scrubs on 1 March 2015 had previously (i) never been in prison, (ii) been in prison once before, (iii) been in prison between 2 and 5 times, (iv) been in prison between 6 and 10 times and (v) been in prison more than 10 times before.

Andrew Selous: In order to provide custodial histories relating to the number of times offenders have been to prison for the specific prison establishments would involve matching a total of 7,065 individual records to the police national computer (PNC) which could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Church Commissioners

Church of England

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, what criteria the Commissioners will use in their decision on releasing additional funds to support Church mission and ministry; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Tony Baldry: Last month, General Synod supported the idea of the Church Commissioners “giving consideration to the basis on which they might, for a limited period, release additional funds in order to support changes that will equip the Church of England more effectively for sustainable mission and ministry over the coming generations”.The Commissioners’ own Board of Governors has also expressed its preparedness, following extensive consultation, to release additional time limited funds provided this could be done in an effective and disciplined manner. Robust processes are already in place to govern the distribution of existing discretionary funding streams and the same will be true of any additional funding.The specific funding criteria have not yet been worked out but I can assure my hon. Friend that any additional money will only be released for focused, evidence-based projects which are rooted in dioceses’ strategies and will be advised by carefully worked through calculations by external actuaries as to the impact on the Commissioners’ ability to make distributions to the Church in perpetuity.

King Richard III

Sir Hugh Bayley: To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, who has been invited to represent the Church of England at the service at Leicester Cathedral for the reburial of King Richard III.

Sir Tony Baldry: The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd & Rt Hon Justin Welby & Mrs Welby will be representing the Church of England at the reburial service for King Richard III in Leicester Cathedral on the 26 March. The local diocese will be represented by the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens alongside other senior clergy from across the country, local dignitaries, ecumenical guests and representatives of other faiths.

Ministry of Defence

Clyde Naval Base and Clyde Submarine Base

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many accidents there have been at HM Naval Base Clyde and Royal Navy Armaments Depot Coulport in each of the last five years.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many accidents were reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 at (a) HM Naval Base Clyde and (b) Royal Navy Armaments Depot Coulport in each of the last five years; and what the circumstances of each such accident were.

Mr Philip Dunne: Holding answer received on 10 March 2015



The information requested covers a number of different Ministry of Defence departments and contractors working at these locations. While each area holds records, these are held in different formats and to different criteria. As such, the information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.I have therefore commissioned officials to compile the best available statistics. I will write to the hon. Member with these before the House rises.

Navy: Training

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Navy pilots are in training to enable them to land a fast jet on the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Air Force pilots are in training to enable them to land a fast jet on the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

Mr Mark Francois: A joint plan is in place to provide sufficient numbers of F-35B pilots from both Services to meet the United Kingdom's requirements for First of Class Flying Trials in 2018 and Queen Elizabeth Class carrier operations from 2020.

HMS Vanguard

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on maintenance of HMS Vanguard in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on refitting HMS Vanguard in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on refitting HMS Victorious in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on maintenance of HMS Victorious in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on refitting HMS Vigilant in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on maintenance of HMS Vengeance in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on maintenance of HMS Vigilant in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on refitting HMS Vengeance in each of the last three years.

Mr Philip Dunne: The table below summarises the cost of maintenance and refit for the four Vanguard class submarines for the last three financial years.   Total Maintenance Costs(£ million)Refit Costs(£ million) 2011-122012-132013-142011-122012-132013-14Vanguard 2.44.400.14.1Vengeance 0.80.843.5105.6119.2Vigilant 1.81.474.18.00.1Victorious 1.61.5000Total10.66.68.1117.6113.7123.4Maintenance costs for the Vanguard Class for financial year 2011-12 cannot be broken down by individual vessels as the information is not held in the format requested.

Trident Missiles

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on general maintenance of Trident missiles in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Trident missiles were capable of being deployed on 11 March 2015.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on refurbishment of Trident missiles in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Trident missiles are undergoing maintenance work.

Mr Philip Dunne: The UK’s Trident missiles are provided from a shared pool at the US Navy's Strategic Weapons Facility at Kings Bay, Georgia. The US undertakes maintenance of the missiles while they are pooled, at which time they are not allocated to either nation. Under the Polaris Sales Agreement (amended for Trident) the UK pays the US Department of Defense an annual contribution towards the overall cost of the Strategic Weapons Facility. This contribution, which includes maintenance work, is based on the UK's share of the overall missile inventory, and historically has amounted to around £12 million a year. There is no separate missile refurbishment program. However, in order to minimise the risk of obsolescence, the US is undertaking the Trident Life Extension program. MOD expenditure for this program (at outturn prices) for the last three years is:   Financial year£ million2011-122.92012-1316.22013-1421.9  We do not comment on operational matters for the purpose of safeguarding national security.

Trident Submarines

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many days Trident submarines have not been at sea in each of the last three years.

Mr Mark Francois: The United Kingdom has maintained a continuous at sea deterrent for more than 45 years, during which time we have always had at least one submarine at sea on deterrent patrol.

Advertising

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) national newspaper advertisements, (d) local newspaper advertisements, (e) social media advertising and (f) other types of advertising in each year since 2010.

Mr Julian Brazier: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Francis Maude) on 17 March 2015 to Question 227295.



227295 - Q n A Extract on Advertising
(Word Document, 25 KB)

Armed Forces: Complaints

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps were taken by the Service Complaints Commissioner to provide full and proper determination of a service complaint submitted by Lt Col (Retired) R. H. Jolleys.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

West Africa

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) regular and reserve armed forces personnel and (b) regular and reserve armed forces personnel based in Plymouth have been involved in operations to control the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.

Mr Mark Francois: As at 17 March 2015, the total number of Regular and Reserve Armed Forces personnel who have deployed to Sierra Leone on operations to assist in controlling the recent Ebola outbreak is 1,310. Of these, 109 were undertaking roles based in Plymouth prior to their deployment. These figures include both those who are currently deployed in Sierra Leone and those who have completed their deployment and returned to the UK or other duties.

Armed Forces: Casualties

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel have died on active service in each year since 2010.

Anna Soubry: From 1 January 2010 to 16 March 2015, 211 UK Armed Forces personnel have died while on active service. The table below presents this figure by year and Operational theatre. Operation 201020112012201320142015Afghanistan1034644960Libya010000Cyprus010001 Notes:1. Figures include Regular and Reservist personnel.2. Figures relate to all causes of death; hostile action, accidents, natural causes, assaults, coroner confirmed suicide or open verdicts and cause not known.3. Figures include personnel who died of their injuries in the UK or other countries as a result of injuries sustained whilst deployed in an Operational theatre.

Department for Work and Pensions

Publicity

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2015 to Question 226527, how much of the spending identified in each year related to marketing and media communication services for the (a) Welfare Reform Act 2012 and (b) Welfare Benefits Up-rating Act 2013.

Esther McVey: The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) uses a variety of free and paid for channels to effectively communicate important reforms and how people are affected. The channels used are considered the most effective route to reach key audiences, whilst offering value for money. All advertising spend is scrutinised and agreed through the Cabinet Office.

Jobcentre Plus

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it mandatory for each Jobcentre Plus to put in place a Foodbank Signposting Service agreement.

Esther McVey: I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green, Roger Godsiff, Official Report, 17 March 2014, column 482W.The answer can be found at the following link:http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140317/text/140317w0005.htm#14031744000263

Personal Independence Payment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2015 to the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston to Question 223024, on what date his Department plans to publish statistics on personal independence payment clearance and waiting times.

Mr Mark Harper: The statistics were published on 18 March 2015 as previously announced.

Children: Poverty

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the statistics collected by the Campaign to End Child Poverty on child poverty rates in Liverpool.

Esther McVey: We remain committed to our goal of ending child poverty by 2020. We've already made great strides under this government with 300,000 fewer children in relative poverty and around 390,000 fewer children growing up in workless families, now at the lowest levels since records began. The Government is taking action to tackle child poverty including introducing Universal Credit, which will simplify the benefit system and ensure that work is always the best option; investing more in nursery and pre-school provision, including providing 260,000 disadvantaged 2 year-olds with 15 hours a week free childcare; investing in education, including £2.5 billion for the Pupil Premium; raising the tax threshold which will lift 3 million more people out of paying tax altogether; and introducing tax cuts for over 26 million people on low incomes. This Government has taken action to give local areas more freedom to respond to local needs. Under the Child Poverty Act, each Local Authority is required to complete a needs assessment of child poverty in its areas and, working with partners, introduce a local strategy to tackle the local problems. Local Authorities understand the local situation best, and can therefore design effective strategies for tackling child poverty at a local level.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of his Department's performance in meeting its targets on the length of time for decisions to be made on the payment of the under-occupancy by (a) vulnerable and disabled and (b) other people.

Mr Mark Harper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 March 2015 to Question UIN 227213.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Bovine Tuberculosis

Sir Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the recommendations of the Epidemiology Report on bovine TB on the Cheshire Edge by Sue Ridout; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Detailed six monthly epidemiology reports on TB in the Edge of High Risk Area (which includes Cheshire) and also the Low Risk Area of England will be published from this summer. This positive development will give cattle keepers and their vets a fuller and more detailed picture of the TB risks in these areas.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Sir Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will reallocate surplus funds from the current round of bids on the Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme to additional projects designed to close physical gaps in coverage along the Cheshire Edge Zone in East Cheshire and Stockport.

George Eustice: Applications for the Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme, which offers support for privately-led vaccination campaigns in the Edge Area of England (including parts of Cheshire) closed on 27 February. All applications received are being considered in line with the published criteria and decisions on successful applications will be announced in due course.   In addition, we are initiating a one-off additional skin test of all cattle herds in the Stockport area. This test will be paid for by Defra and its purpose will be to identify whether there has been any spread of the disease among the local herds and to help detect any infected herds early in order to limit the number of affected animals within these herds.

Natural Resources

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on the European Commission's decision not to proceed with the circular economy package.

Dan Rogerson: The UK Government is committed to making better use of resources and minimising the environmental impact of waste, by sending less waste to landfill and increasing the recycling, reuse and prevention of waste.   The Commission has announced its intention to bring forward new proposals this year that will set out a more ambitious approach to developing the circular economy.   We look forward to working with the Commission, the European Parliament and other Member States to ensure a balanced package of proposals that is ambitious, evidence based and feasible for all Member States.

Research

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what amount her Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.

Dan Rogerson: The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts set out details of spend on research and development by the Core Department and its agencies, and total Departmental spend each year. The table below shows the information requested in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2013-14 (the last financial year for which a set of accounts has been published).   Financial YearSpend on Research and Development (£000)Proportion of Total Departmental Spending2010-11106,2324.6%2011-12108,9984.5%2012-13101,6234.4%2013-1492,3044.3%

Antisocial Behaviour: Noise

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to protect residents from persistently noisy neighbours.

Dan Rogerson: The Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Noise Act 1996 already provide local authorities with the necessary powers to tackle problem neighbour noise. This legislation allows local authorities to serve notices to stop the noise and prevent it from happening again.   The Government has also introduced more effective anti-social behaviour powers under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. One of the powers is the Community Protection Notice which the police and local authorities can use to tackle behaviour that is having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of the community, is persistent or continuing and is unreasonable. In addition, apart from the statutory guidance, the Government has also published an information note highlighting how the new powers can be used to deal with noisy neighbours.

Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department and its executive agencies and associated bodies were engaged off-payroll in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which figures are available.

Dan Rogerson: The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts set out the number of off-payroll workers employed by the Core Department, its Executive Agencies and Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies each year. The table below shows the information requested in each financial year from 2009-10 to 2013-14 (the last financial year for which a set of accounts has been published).   Organisation2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-14Core Defra362119737391  Executive Agencies: Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (see Note)133561049390Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science14127131Food and Environment Research Agency (see Note)15541011Rural Payments Agency3203254150206Veterinary Medicines Directorate7771410  Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies: Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (see Note)073341838Consumer Council for Water10021Environment Agency868349687764403Joint Nature Conservation Committee00000Marine Management Organisation592000National Forest Company00000Natural England183124131135181Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew3541284836Sea Fish Industry Authority01100  Note: the figures for the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency reflect the organisation’s then structure, which was created from a merger of the Animal Health agency and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency on 1 April 2011. The figures do not reflect the restructuring into the Animal and Plant Health Agency on 1 October 2014, when some areas of work undertaken previously by Fera (Food and Environment Research Agency) were brought into the new organisation.

National Parks

Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what factors her Department uses to determine the relative level of central Government funding given to each National Park authority; and what weight is given in that process to the minimum funding required to operate planning functions in the least well-funded National Parks.

Dan Rogerson: Overall funding levels for national park authorities are calculated based on a range of demographic and other factors relevant to delivery of the national parks’ statutory purposes and their planning function. Factors include the size of the park, the population and the number of planning cases. Within that, national park authorities are independent bodies and it is for them to decide how best to allocate their funding to deliver their functions and the locally determined priorities as set out in their Management Plans.

ICT

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which news applications staff in her Department are authorised to download and use on their work-provided phones and tablets.

Dan Rogerson: Core Defra staff are not authorised to download and use any news applications on their work-provided phones and tablets.

Staff

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of employees in her Department identify as (a) white or white British, (b) Asian or Asian British, (c) Black or Black British, (d) mixed or multiple ethnic group and (e) another ethnicity.

Dan Rogerson: The table below shows the number and proportion of core Defra employees in each ethnicity category as at 28 February 2015. This includes people who have declared their ethnicity status only.   EthnicityWhiteAsianBlackMixedOtherTotalNo. of staff1237921182471478%83.7%6.2%8.0%1.6%0.5%100%

Department for Communities and Local Government

Council Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to protect leaseholders charged with excessive charges for repairs levied before the new cap for council house repairs came into force in August 2014.

Brandon Lewis: There were Directions, dating back to 1997, for the mandatory reduction of service charges to social landlords that cap leaseholder charges to £10,000 for specific programmes where Government has funded repair or regeneration. They were last extended in 1999 to take account of funding available through the Private Finance Initiative. They only relate to specific, named, programmes. The new Mandatory Directions, which came into force in August 2014, extended the cap to £15,000 in London and covered the Decent Homes Grant announced in the 2013 Spending Review. The law provides all leaseholders with a wide range of rights and protections where service charges and the management of their property is concerned. Service charges are only payable to the extent that they are reasonable, although what may be reasonable will depend on each property, the work required, and other services that the landlord is required to provide. Furthermore, leaseholders have the right to challenge the service charges they are being asked to pay by applying to an independent tribunal to determine the payability of the charges on the grounds of reasonableness.Leaseholders can seek free initial legal advice about their own particular circumstances from the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE), a specialist advisory body funded by this Department, at Fleetbank House, 2-6 Salisbury Square, London, EC4 8YX; by telephone on 020 7832 2500; or by e-mail at: info@lease-advice.org . LEASE’s website is at: www.lease-advice.orgNoting the hon. Member’s constituency interest, I would add that my Department has recently received a number of letters from leaseholders complaining about how much they are being charged by Tower Hamlets Homes (an arms length management organisation for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets) in relation to major improvements and repair works to their homes. Examples have been given of service charges of around £35,000. Some of the complaints have also asserted that the commissioning of the works is flawed or even corrupt. We are carefully looking into these concerns and considering options.In addition, Tower Hamlets, like all London councils receiving Decent Homes funding, has been required to appoint someone to independently verify their claims for decent homes funding. Tower Hamlets has appointed Mazars using an established procurement framework and the Greater London Authority believes that, to the best of their knowledge, this provides the necessary degree of independence.Notwithstanding my Department’s review, I am disappointed with the aggressive and unsympathetic approach of the council, which is yet another sign of how the actions of the Tower Hamlets administration have harmed the good reputation of local government.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to answer Question 219077, tabled on 17 December 2014.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 29 January 2015



Question 219077 has been answered today.

Advertising

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department's advertising budget was in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.

Kris Hopkins: My Department has cut spending on marketing and advertising to a fraction of the spending of the last Labour Government: 2008-09: £12.7 million2009-10: £9.9 million2010-11: £898,0002011-12: £980,0002012-13: £2.4 million2013-14: £2 million2014-15: final 2014-15 spend will be in the region of 2013-14 spend. There are two main areas of spending: the award-winning Fire Kills campaign, and information for social tenants on their Right to Buy.

Coastal Communities Fund

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities have bid for each round of the Coastal Communities Fund but have so far received no funding.

Penny Mordaunt: The Coastal Communities Fund has had three bidding rounds to date, across the United Kingdom. My answer of 9 February 2015, PQ 223748, provided a list of areas which had received grants. I have placed in the Library of the House, a table listing the local authority areas from which bids have been received.Ministers are not involved in the grant application or assessment process. The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for inviting and assessing applications to the Fund and makes recommendations to Ministers on which projects should be supported.Whilst the Coastal Communities Fund is currently closed for further applications, I hope there will be further opportunities to support local schemes which have not benefitted from Government support to date.

Advertising

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department's advertising and communications expenditure was in each month since September 2014; and what that expenditure is forecast to be in March 2015.

Kris Hopkins: DCLG has cut spending on marketing and advertising from £9.9 million in 2009-10 to £2.0 million in 2013-14. We anticipate that spending in 2014-15 will be broadly in line with 2013-14.

EDF Energy: Somerset

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on who authorised the distribution of publicity information for EDF Energy in communications sent to local residents by Somerset County Council and Sedgemoor District Council.

Kris Hopkins: This information is not held centrally.

Advertising

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) national newspaper advertisements, (d) local newspaper advertisements, (e) social media advertising and (f) other types of advertising in each year since 2010.

Kris Hopkins: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my rt. hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Mr Francis Maude) on 17 March 2015 to Question 227295. I would add that my Department has cut spending on marketing and advertising to a fraction of the spending of the last Labour Government: 2008-09: £12.7 million2009-10: £9.9 million2010-11: £898,0002011-12: £980,0002012-13: £2.4 million2013-14: £2 million2014-15: final 2014-15 spend will be in the region of 2013-14 spend. There are two main areas of spending: the award-winning Fire Kills campaign, and information for social tenants on their Right to Buy.

Fire Services: Pensions

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with fire authorities in England and Wales on pension rights for firefighters who fail fitness tests due to illness; and how many of those authorities have indicated to him that they cannot pay those pensions.

Penny Mordaunt: I recently met with the National Employers to discuss firefighter fitness issues in England. Where underlying medical reasons have been identified that restrict or prevent an individual from achieving the necessary fitness standards for undertaking their role as a firefighter, the individual should be referred to occupational health, and must receive the necessary support to facilitate a return to operational duties. The fire and rescue authority should also fully explore opportunities to enable the individual to remain in employment, including through reasonable adjustments and appropriate redeployment within the role, where it appears the medical condition prevents a return to operational duties. In those circumstances, where there are no such opportunities or suitable alternative employment is unavailable, then the fire and rescue authority will commence the formal assessment for ill-health retirement by referring the case to the Independent Qualified Medical Practitioner. Where it is determined that a firefighter is permanently unable to continue in their role as a firefighter they would become entitled to the immediate payment of a lower tier ill-health pension. In addition to this, they would also receive a higher tier ill-health enhancement if it was also determined that they could not undertake any regular employment. The definition of ill-health is wide, and includes both physical and mental conditions, including arthritis and post-traumatic stress syndrome. It is important to note that, where a firefighter is deemed eligible for medical retirement, the authority must pay the ill-health pension - there is no discretion. In the 2015 Firefighters Pension Scheme firefighters will accrue pension more quickly than their counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and will consequently achieve a higher ill-health pension.

First Time Buyers

Mr Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his Answer of 12 March 2015 to Question 226673, whether starter homes provided under his proposed exceptions policy could be counted towards off-site affordable housing obligations owed by developers under section 106 agreements made in respect of other development sites.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the rt. hon Member to my answer to him of 12 March 2015, Question 226673, and the associated guidance which outlines the exceptions policy in place.

First Time Buyers

Mr Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department made of the number of starter homes that could be provided on sites in commercial or industrial use that (a) were otherwise unlikely to be brought forward for residential purposes and (b) are not currently identified for residential development but which might be brought forward as a windfall element in a local authority's five year land supply when assessing the availability of land for starter homes under the proposed exceptions policy.

Brandon Lewis: I refer the rt. hon Member to my answers of 12 and 16 March to his Questions 226642, 226652 and 226673.

Mental Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many local authorities have carried out an assessment of the mental health needs of their child and adolescent populations.

Kris Hopkins: The Government does not collect this information. However, local health and wellbeing boards are required to produce Joint Strategic Needs Assessments, which must assess current and future health and social care needs within the health and wellbeing board area. Assessments must cover the whole population, and ensure that mental health receives equal priority to physical health.

Planning Permission: Urban Areas

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including urban planning in the Public Health Responsibility Deal.

Kris Hopkins: The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to achieving sustainable development, which includes the health, social and cultural well-being of local communities. The Framework:sets out that good design is indivisible from good planning and should contribute to making places better for people;asks planners to work to create safe and secure layouts which minimise conflicts between traffic and cyclists or pedestrians, and give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements;enables local communities, through the preparation of local and neighbourhood plans, to identify for special protection green or open areas of particular importance to them as Local Green Space; andseeks to conserve and enhance the natural environment and reduce pollution.The Public Health Responsibility Deal embodies the Government's ambition for a more collaborative approach to tackling the challenges caused by lifestyle choices and so it is within this context that councils and communities can help to shape their places.

Families: Disadvantaged

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the performance of the Troubled Families scheme.

Kris Hopkins: As my rt.hon. Friend, the Secretary of State (Eric Pickles) outlined in his Oral Statement of 10 March, Official Report, Column 157, the Troubled Families Programme is firmly on track. As of the end of February 2015, local authorities reported that 105,671 troubled families had been turned around. This represents 90% of the national total of 117,910 troubled families targeted by the programme and there remains a final opportunity for local authorities to report results in May 2015. 10,508 of these families include a family member who had been helped off benefits and into continuous employment. My Department regularly publishes information about progress online. The latest breakdown, by individual local authority, is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/troubled-families-programme-progress-information-at-december-2014-and-families-turned-around-at-february-2015

Derelict Land

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has published on use of brownfield sites in local development by local authorities.

Brandon Lewis: The National Planning Policy Framework asks local authorities to encourage the re-use of previously developed (brownfield) land, provided that it is not of high environmental value. It confirms that a local authority may set a locally appropriate target for the use of brownfield land through the Local Plan. Local authorities need to take account of the biodiversity value of a brownfield site before decisions are taken about development.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to promote best practice between local authorities and local enterprise partnerships.

Penny Mordaunt: Since 2011 the government has funded the Local Enterprise Partnerships Network to enable them to come together to discuss issues of shared interest, provide a shared platform for the exchange of knowledge and best practice and support private sector board members to build capacity.  We also established the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth in October 2013. The Centre, which is co-funded by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Economic and Social Research Council has a key objective which is to ensure that robust evidence is embedded in the development of policy on local economic growth and that new policies are effectively evaluated. As part of its work the Centre engages with an extensive network of practitioners, including local enterprise partnerships and local authorities to develop and disseminate best practice and develop communities of interest. Local Enterprise Partnerships, which are partnerships of local authorities and business are proactively working across their boundaries, often through the Local Government Association, on areas of shared interest.

Fire Services: Pensions

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether firefighters aged 55 who fail a fitness test will receive an unreduced pension; and whether he plans to bring in legislative proposals to make this a statutory right.

Penny Mordaunt: It is not possible to introduce fitness regulations as part of the pension regulations in the absence of an agreed and universally applied national firefighter fitness standard in England. The statutory principles that we put in the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England came into force on 12 January 2015. To underpin these the National Employers have sought further discussion with the Fire Brigades Union in respect of additional guidance relating to the position already agreed in principle within the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services about the role fire authorities will take in supporting operational employees to maintain their fitness. In addition, the National Employers are looking to discuss with the unions, guidance on application of the factors set out in Pension Regulations for fire authority consideration in relation to Authority Initiated Early Retirement. Both approaches are expected to provide reassurance to operational employees that fire authorities will continue to treat their employees in a fair and consistent manner.We will review the implementation of the National Framework principles in three years time and consider then whether further action is needed. In the meantime no firefighter will have to work beyond their current expected retirement date until 2022 at the earliest. Our expectation is that a firefighter of 55 or over who finds themselves in the situation of losing their fitness through no fault of their own, is unable to regain their fitness, and for whom there are no redeployment opportunities, should be offered an unreduced pension.Where underlying medical reasons have been identified that restrict or prevent an individual from achieving the necessary fitness standards for undertaking their role as a firefighter, the individual should be referred to occupational health, and must receive the necessary support to facilitate a return to operational duties. The fire and rescue authority should also fully explore opportunities to enable the individual to remain in employment, including through reasonable adjustments and appropriate redeployment within the role, where it appears the medical condition prevents a return to operational duties. In those circumstances, where there are no such opportunities or suitable alternative employment is unavailable, then the fire and rescue authority will commence the formal assessment for ill-health retirement by referring the case to the Independent Qualified Medical Practitioner. Where it is determined that a firefighter is permanently unable to continue in their role as a firefighter they would become entitled to the immediate payment of a lower tier ill-health pension. In addition to this, they would also receive a higher tier ill-health enhancement if it was also determined that they could not undertake any regular employment. The definition of ill-health is wide, and includes both physical and mental conditions, including arthritis and post-traumatic stress syndrome. It is important to note that, where a firefighter is deemed eligible for medical retirement, the authority must pay the ill-health pension - there is no discretion.Any firefighter will continue to be free to choose to retire from 55 onwards should they wish to, regardless of their fitness. In such circumstances, any benefits accrued in the 1992 and 2006 firefighters' pension schemes would be paid in full, while benefits earned in the 2015 scheme would be actuarially reduced by 21.8 per cent for a firefighter retiring on their birthday at 55, and reduced on a daily basis thereafter. The actuarial reduction of 21.8 per cent at age 55 compares very favourably with a reduction of over 40 per cent applied to firefighters at the same age in the 2006 scheme. The 2006 scheme also introduced a normal pension age of 60. Overall, our measures give firefighters one of the most generous pensions in the public sector and the strongest protections available for any public sector workforce on fitness and ageing.

Non-domestic Rates

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the amount of unpaid business rates owed to local authorities in (a) England, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) Leeds in each year from 2010 to 2014.

Kris Hopkins: The table below shows, in £ millions, the amount of business rates not collected in-year by local authorities in (a) England, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) Leeds in each year from 2009-10 to 2013-14. LeedsWest YorkshireEngland2009-107.318.6432.12010-116.817.2409.42011-128.722.0466.52012-138.521.0507.72013-1411.122.3478.0West Yorkshire comprises of the metroploitan districts of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.This information is derived from the final Quarterly Return of Council Taxes and Non-Domestic Rates (QRC4) returns submitted for all 326 billing authorities in England in April and May each year. This information is published in statistical releases available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/council-tax-statistics The figures are calculated by subtracting the amount of business rates local authorities collected in the year up until 31 March of the year in question from the amount of business rates that were expected to be collected for the year. It includes prepayments made in advance of the year in question but does not include prepayments made within the year for future years nor does it include the payment of any arrears. Collection of business rates continues once the financial year to which they relate has ended. This means the final amount not collected for the year may be different to the amount shown in the table This shows there is significant scope for councils to generate revenue by improving their collection rates.

Planning Permission

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the average cost to the public purse of a request for him to call in a planning application in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: Very few planning applications are called in each year - an average of only 8 cases in each of the last five years. In all these cases the parties who take part in the planning inquiry are expected to meet their own costs in preparing and presenting evidence. The cost to the public purse is therefore limited. It varies considerably between cases, depending on factors including the complexity of each project and the length of the planning inquiry, and whether there is any litigation following the issue of a decision.

Non-domestic Rates

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support and advice is available to companies which require assistance in paying business rates.

Kris Hopkins: We announced at the 2014 Autumn Statement an extra £650 million of support for 2015-16 bills, bringing the total support of 2013 and 2014 Autumn Statement polices to £1.4 billion. This help includes: doubling small business rate relief for a further year. In England, this means an estimated 400,000 properties will pay no rates at all, while a further 200,000 properties will benefit from tapered relief;a 2% cap on the increase of the small business rates multiplier. This is a continuation of the 2% cap introduced in 2014-15 as part of Autumn Statement 2013 measures;increasing the temporary discount for shops, pubs and restaurants with rateable values below £50,000 from £1,000 to £1,500 for 2015-16, benefitting an estimated 200,000 properties in England; andextending the existing transitional relief scheme for two years for properties with a rateable value up to and including £50,000. These measures are in addition to previous Autumn Statement measures that continue into 2015-16, including: a 50 per cent discount for 18 months to new occupants of vacant shops;allowing businesses to keep their small business rate relief for a year where they take on an additional property;business rates relief for empty new builds; andallowing businesses to pay their business rate bills over 12 months, in order to assist with their cash flow.  We have also given councils powers to grant their own discounts and we now fund 50% of any local discount granted. Authorities also have powers to grant hardship relief.

Scotland Office

Pay

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many and what proportion of staff (a) of his Department and (b) working for companies contracted by his Department in Scotland are paid less than the living wage.

Mr Alistair Carmichael: The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. All staff that join the Office do so on an assignment, secondment or loan agreement from other Government bodies. All staff on such arrangements are paid more than the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation.The Scotland Office has one contract which provides security for the office in Edinburgh. The Scotland Office does not set the wages paid by the contractors to its workers; however, the wage paid by the contractor is above the national minimum wage. Otherwise the Office uses framework contracts for building services held by the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government.

HM Treasury

Income Tax: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the income tax gap in Scotland in each of the last five years.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) published its latest tax gap estimates on 16 October 2014 in 'Measuring Tax Gaps' 2014 edition.   Estimates of the UK tax gap for each type of tax are provided from 2005-06 to 2012-13. In 2012-13 the overall UK tax gap was estimated at £34 billion, 6.8 per cent of total tax due. Within this, the tax gap due to Income Tax, National Insurance Contributions and Capital Gains Tax was estimated at £14.2 billion.   HMRC do not break down any of the estimates by country.

Tax Evasion

Paul Flynn: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on which dates he discussed with senior officials at HM Revenue and Customs whether maximisation of recovery of unpaid tax liabilities from UK residents holding private unregistered accounts offshore should be prioritised ahead of prosecuting alleged offenders.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has a longstanding approach to tax evasion, which is based on collecting the tax and interest due, changing taxpayer behaviour to discourage them from evading in the future, and enforcing the most appropriate and effective penalties. This approach was set out by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2002[1] and has not changed.   They have a range of enforcement tools at their disposal, including criminal prosecution and civil sanctions. In many cases, and when the evidence supports this, the most appropriate action is to pursue criminal charges.   HMRC therefore use the criminal route where they have the strongest evidence of criminal intent, for serial tax evaders and for people who deliberately conceal information when they are investigated by HMRC.   In 2010 this Government increased the resources available for prosecution and as a result the number of prosecutions has increased by a factor of five.[1] http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/2002/nov/07/tax-fraud

HSBC

Shabana Mahmood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the contribution of Edward Troup in oral evidence to the Committee of Public Accounts on 5 November 2012, HC716, Question 60, what progress has been made on the further dozen pending criminal prosecutions for cases related to HSBC and tax evasion.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to comments  by a senior HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) official to The Times, quoted in an article of 2 November 2012, what discussions Ministers of his Department had with HMRC officials on whether to pursue a selective prosecution policy on tax cases relating to HSBC in Switzerland.

Mr David Gauke: The information sought was provided by Edward Troup in oral evidence to the Committee of Public Accounts on 28 October 2013, HC666, from Question 328 onwards.  It is a long standing principle that Ministers are not involved in individual cases. HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) approach to prosecution has not changed since it was set out by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2002 – (Official Report, 7 November 2002; Vol. 392, c. 784W.).

HSBC

Shabana Mahmood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any Minister in his Department discussed the issue of HSBC and tax evasion with Lord Green during his time as Minister for Trade and Investment.

Mr David Gauke: I refer the Hon. Lady to the answer I gave her on 20 February.

Revenue and Customs

Mr Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) expenditure is allocated to preventing, detecting and handling cases of (a) tax evasion, (b) tax avoidance and (c) fraud and error in the tax credits system; and how many HMRC staff are working on each of those issues.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) allocates resources in a flexible manner, so that it meets individual business needs.   Information on the structure and organisation of HMRC is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrcs-annual-report-and-accounts

Tax Evasion

Shabana Mahmood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many convictions there have been as a result of prosecutions brought by HM Revenue and Customs for tax evasion in each of the last five years.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is not a prosecuting authority. Where cases handled by HMRC do proceed to the criminal courts the prosecution is carried out by the relevant independent prosecuting authority. This is the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England and Wales, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in Scotland, and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI).   Individuals convicted as a result of prosecutions arising from HMRC investigations for tax evasion offences since April 2010 were as follows:   2010-11: 280   2011-12: 401   2012-13: 522   2013-14: 682   HMRC is not able to supply a time series of full year convictions resulting from their criminal investigations for years up to 2009–10. Complete, comparable data is only available from 2010–11 onwards.

Tax Avoidance

Shabana Mahmood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of penalties collected by HM Revenue and Customs as a result of criminal convictions relating to tax avoidance and evasion was in each of the last five years.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has never collected penalties as a result of criminal convictions. Sanctions imposed following conviction are a matter for the courts.

Private Rented Housing: Tax Allowances

Frank Dobson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of tax relief on buy-to-let house purchases in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

Mr David Gauke: The information requested is not available.

Income Tax: Cambridge

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have ceased to pay income tax as a result of increases in the personal allowance since May 2010 in Cambridge constituency.

Mr David Gauke: By April 2015 this Government's increases in the personal allowance (for those born after 5 April 1948) are estimated to have taken 3.2 million individuals out of the income tax system altogether. 287,000 of these individuals live in the East of England region, which includes the Parliamentary Constituency of Cambridge.   These estimates are based on the 2012-13 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2015-16 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s December 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.   HM Treasury does not publish this information at constituency level.

Tax Evasion

Dame Anne McGuire: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of calls made to the Tax Evasion Hotline was from parents with care who receive statutory child maintenance reporting alleged tax evasion by a non-resident parent in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14.

Mr David Gauke: The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Revenue and Customs

Ian Lavery: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on which dates in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015 officials from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) met representatives of the Public and Commercial Services Union to consult them, pursuant to the Employee Relations Agreement, regarding the operation of the staff performance management system in HMRC.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officials meet with the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) regularly to discuss a range of issues, including the implementation of the Civil Service Performance Management process.

Minimum Wage

Paul Blomfield: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2015 to Question 225382, what data HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) holds on action taken through the civil courts in cases in which HMRC has assisted.

Mr David Gauke: As under the previous administration, information on cases for England & Wales is held by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Solicitor’s Office; for Scotland by the Advocate General; and for Northern Ireland by the Crown Solicitor's Office. HMRC is making plans for information to be collated and stored by HMRC.

Inheritance Tax

Pamela Nash: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2015 to Question 223222, how much funding was allocated for the specialist inheritance tax compliance teams in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Mr David Gauke: The funding allocations for staff allocated to the Inheritance Tax compliance teams for the last four years are:   2014/15 £5,930,000 2013/14 £6,357,000 2012/13 £6,293,000 2011/12 £6,334,000   Prior to 2011/12 the teams were organised and structured in a different way and comparable figures are not available.   HM Revenue & Customs has re-engineered the IHT compliance process. This has delivered efficiencies which are reflected in the funding allocations.

Surveys

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff in his Department responded that they were treated fairly at work in the most recent Civil Service People Survey.

Andrea Leadsom: In the 2014 People Survey, 81% of Treasury respondents declaring a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability responded that they were treated fairly at work.   89% of Treasury respondents declaring that they did not have a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability responded that they were treated fairly at work.

Camphill Village Trust

Caroline Lucas: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on the tax treatment of people living as co-workers at intentional communities run by the Camphill Village Trust; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The Chancellor receives many representations from a wide range of people including recent letters on the tax treatment of co-workers at intentional communities. The employment status of individuals is determined by the terms and conditions under which they work, applying criteria handed down in judgements by the Courts. It is the responsibility of engagers to decide the employment status of individuals they engage.

Tax Avoidance

Sir Richard Shepherd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations were made to the Government on the constitutional propriety of the General Anti-Avoidance Rule introduced by the Finance Act 2013 (a) in relation to whether the Rule seeks to make citizens responsible for shortcomings of the legislative process, (b) in relation to whether the Rule requires the courts to give effect to interpretations offered by an advisory body which is unaccountable and unelected and (c) on any other grounds.

Mr David Gauke: The Government launched its consultation on a General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR) on 12 June 2012. A significant number of responses were received from a wide range of respondents. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) published a summary of responses on 11 December 2012 noting that the majority of respondents were broadly in favour of an anti-abuse rule, though there were concerns that the draft legislation had the potential to apply more widely than the stated target.   The role and composition of the GAAR Advisory Panel was an important element of the consultation. The response document notes that, “most respondents welcomed the introduction of the Advisory Panel as a taxpayer safeguard. There was support for the view that it should be a non-judicial body that would consider a case before it progresses to a court or tribunal.”   In addition to the thorough consultation and following the publication of the provisions on GAAR in December 2012, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee considered the Government’s proposals for an anti-abuse rule, as part of their enquiry into selected provisions of the draft Finance Bill. The Committee considered representations from a range of sources. The majority of those who made comments or gave evidence were also broadly in support of the new rule. The Committee’s report is available here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldselect/ldeconaf/139/13906.htm   The consultation and the summary of responses is available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/*/http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_ConsultationDocuments&propertyType=document&columns=1&id=HMCE_PROD1_032453

Alternative Investment Market

Mr Peter Hain: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the letter of 29 September 2014 sent to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by the hon. Member for Neath, relating to the regulation of the alternative investment market, if he will make an assessment of the merits of the arguments made in that letter on reforms to that market.

Andrea Leadsom: The Alternative Investments Market (AIM) is owned and operated by the London Stock Exchange. Although under the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive AIM is not classified as a Regulated Market, this does not mean that it is not subject to any regulation. Indeed, under the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000, AIM falls within the definition of a Prescribed Market and is therefore subject to the requirements of the rigorous UK domestic market abuse regime. Furthermore, as a UK Recognised Investment Exchange, the London Stock Exchange is subject to the Recognition Requirements Regulations, which includes rules governing how AIM is operated.

Sanitary Protection: Taxation

Caroline Dinenage: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will propose at an EU level (a) a review of the EU's classification of women's sanitary products as luxury items and (b) an end to the 5 per cent tax rate on such items.

Mr David Gauke: Female sanitary products are not classified as luxury items. Indeed, a reduced rate of VAT of 5 per cent currently applies to female sanitary products. This has been in place since 2001 and is the lowest rate possible under EU law.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Renewable Energy

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of private-sector investment in renewable energy in the UK in each year since 2010.

Amber Rudd: Bloomberg New Energy Finance analysis shows over $50bn (approximately £32bn) has been invested in renewable energy in the UK since 2010. The breakdown by year and technology is as follows. Sector $m20102011201220132014TotalWind8,0462,5734,5976,1318,02929,377Biomass & Waste1,3233,1902,0633,3273,01212,915Solar411,3831,6382,9161,6087,586Marine62532820142305Geothermal01900019Small hydro (<=50118841600219Total9,5907,3028,34212,39412,79150,419Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance, new investment, excluding R&D

Fuel Poverty

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many households in fuel poverty in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) England, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland used prepayment meters to pay for (i) gas and (ii) electricity in each year since May 2010.

Amber Rudd: Data on fuel poverty is published annually at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics.

Housing: Energy

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what processes are in place to monitor the standard of installations carried out under (a) the Energy Company Obligation and the Green Deal and (b) the Warm Front Scheme; what processes are in place to limit the use of sub-contractors in those schemes; and what right of redress householders have in the event that installations are not of a satisfactory standard.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 16 March 2015



Under ECO, Ofgem (the scheme administrator) requires that energy suppliers contract independent third parties to undertake technical monitoring on a 5% representative sample of ECO measures. Where a measure has failed a technical monitoring question, Ofgem requires that remedial action is undertaken. Ofgem publishes a technical monitoring report on its website. All installers must be certified by a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2030 body, and further monitoring is conducted by these bodies. Ofgem can refuse to award ECO savings to an energy company where works are not compliant with PAS 2030.Ofgem requires that customers who have cavity wall and solid wall insulation measures installed under ECO are provided with a 25-year guarantee. Boiler repairs are required to have a one- or two-year warranty and from 1 April 2015 replacement boilers will also be required to have a warranty provided to the consumer. These guarantees and warranties must cover both the parts and installation.Customers should direct complaints to the company who installed the measure in the first instance, however if they are not satisfied with the response they should speak with the guarantee company and/or the energy company that funded the measure. Customers can contact Ofgem to find out which energy company funded the measure.As with all building work, customers can contact Citizen’s Advice or Trading Standards if they are unsatisfied with the work conducted by the installation company.There are no processes to limit the use of sub-contractors under ECO (though measures must be installed in accordance with PAS 2030). It is for the obligated energy suppliers to set their own strategies to meet their obligations.As specified in the Energy Act 2011, Assessors and Installers must be authorised in order to operate under the Green Deal. To be authorised, assessors and installers must meet the Green Deal Assessor and Installer standards and be certified against those standards by Certification Bodies. All Green Deal Installers are certified to the PAS2030 standard by Green Deal Certification Bodies.The relevant Certification Body is then responsible for the monitoring of those organisations they have certified. All Certification Bodies will have a complaints procedure and will be required to handle complaints over installation quality for their certified organisations.The Government funded Warm Front Scheme closed on 19 January 2013, and all installations were completed by 31 December 2013. Any customers who received support under the scheme and wish to make a complaint continue to benefit from an established complaints procedure overseen by the scheme administrator, Carillion Energy Services.

Wind Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much onshore wind capacity for repowering farms (a) received planning approval and (b) was rejected in each year since 2009; and how many planning applications for repowering onshore wind farms were (i) approved and (ii) rejected in each year since 2009.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 16 March 2015



The Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) does not routinely capture information on planning applications from renewable electricity projects seeking to repower. The table below sets out the number and capacity of onshore wind projects that received or were refused planning permission in each year since 2009 and whose operator site names quoted in the REPD indicate that they are repower projects:  ApprovedRefused NoCap MW)NoCap (MW)2009191120101200020111100020122331220134370020141120020150000Totals1012023

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Mr Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will make a comparative assessment of the cost of new offshore wind capacity in Denmark and the UK.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 16 March 2015



Both the UK and Denmark have recently announced auction outcomes for offshore wind projects.Information on the UK auction outcome is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cfd-auction-allocation-round-one-a-breakdown-of-the-outcome-by-technology-year-and-clearing-price.Information on the Danish tender outcome, as well as Kriegers Flak, is available at:http://www.ens.dk/en/supply/renewable-energy/wind-power/offshore-wind-power/large-scale-offshore-wind-tenders.

Housing: Energy

Sir Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many homes in (a) York Central constituency and (b) City of York local authority area were retrofitted with cavity wall insulation, lagging or other measures to conserve energy in 2010 and each subsequent year.

Amber Rudd: The Department does not publish a breakdown of measures installed by measure type, geography nor by Government schemes prior to the start of ECO. However, the provisional number of measures delivered under ECO in York Central constituency was 1,332, up to end September 2014. In York Unitary Authority there were 2,074 measures delivered under ECO, up to end September 2014.The statistics referred to can be found in Table 1.11a and 1.11b at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/green-deal-energy-company-obligation-eco-and-insulation-levels-in-great-britain-quarterly-report-to-september-2014The next quarterly release covering the period up to the end of December 2014 will be published on 19th March 2015.

Electricity: Meters

Sir Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many homes in (a) York Central constituency and (b) City of York local authority area have a prepayment electricity meter.

Amber Rudd: DECC do not collect or hold data at this level of disaggregation.From DECC’s domestic meter point data, there were 77,000 domestic standard electricity meters and an additional 10,000 economy 7 meters in the York Unitary Authority in 2013. Data is not published for the York Central constituency:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sub-national-electricity-consumption-dataDECC estimate that 17% of standard electricity customers in Yorkshire, used prepayment meters in the latest quarter. This data is only available at the public electricity supply (PES) region level. Data is not available for the York central constituency or the York Unitary Authority Area:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/quarterly-domestic-energy-price-stastics.

Carbon Emissions

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment he has made of progress towards meeting the Kyoto agreement targets on carbon dioxide emissions.

Amber Rudd: DECC published the latest figures for UK greenhouse gas emissions on 3rd February 2015 [1]. This included an assessment of progress towards meeting targets agreed under the Kyoto Protocol. The UK’s target for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which ran from 2008 to 2012, was a 12.5 percent reduction on Kyoto Protocol base year emissions [2]. UK emissions of the basket of six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol (including carbon dioxide) were an average 607.9 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent per year over this period taking account of emissions trading under the EU Emissions Trading System; 22 percent lower than base year emissions.  [1] Available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/407432/20150203_2013_Final_Emissions_statistics.pdf 2] ‘Base year emissions’ refer to UK emissions in 1990, as reported in the UK 2004 inventory submission.

Energy: Conservation

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress he has made on meeting the target of installing energy efficiency measures in one million homes by March 2015.

Matthew Hancock: We have met our target of installing efficiency measures in one million homes, three months early. ECO and Green Deal improvements are now in1,123,000 homes.

Energy: Prices

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps he is taking to ensure that household energy bills reflect recent changes in wholesale energy costs.

Amber Rudd: All of the major suppliers have announced reductions to their standard variable gas tariffs in recent weeks in response to reductions in the wholesale gas price. The price of fixed term deals has continued to fall with the cheapest deal on the market £100 cheaper than the cheapest deal a year ago. The Competition and Markets Authority has made clear that it will be looking further at the relationship between wholesale costs and retail prices as part of its investigation.

Energy Supply

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, What steps he is taking to ensure the long-term supply of affordable energy.

Mr Edward Davey: This Government inherited a legacy of underinvestment in energy, especially electricity. Our new policies for investment and reform of the electricity market have led to more than £45 billion of investment in electricity generation and networks between 2010 and 2013. Our electricity market reforms mean that average annual household electricity bills will be around £41 lower over the period 2014 to 2030 than decarbonising without these changes.

Cabinet Office

Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff in his Department and its executive agencies and associated bodies were engaged off-payroll in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which figures are available.

Pamela Nash: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff in 10 Downing Street were engaged off-payroll in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which figures are available.

Mr Francis Maude: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.Audited information about staff engaged off-payroll has been published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts for the last 2 full financial years (2012/13, 2013/14) and these are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-annual-reports-and-accounts .Audited information for 2014/15 will be published in the 2014/15 Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts in due course.

Pay

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of staff (a) of his Department and (b) working for companies contracted by his Department in Scotland are paid less than the living wage.

Mr Francis Maude: We don’t have any staff or buildings in Scotland.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to promote the National Citizen Service scheme in schools.

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many schools have engaged with the National Citizen Service scheme in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: National Citizen Service (NCS) continues to see impressive year on year growth thanks, in part, to school engagement.NCS is promoted to senior school leadership through targeted marketing and events. The programme’s local delivery partners also deliver thousands of school assemblies and involve NCS graduates as advocates for the programme. 1,886 schools engaged in NCS in 2013 increasing to 2,630 in 2014.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2015 to Question 226811, on High Speed 2 railway line, for what reasons the page at that link is unobtainable.

Mr Francis Maude: Apologies. The correct link for the government’s Transparency Policy is: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/major-projects-transparency-policy-and-exemptions-guidanceThe policy states that MPA will publish a delivery confidence assessment rating of projects on the Government Major Projects Portfolio in its Annual Report, six months in arrears.

Training

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2014 to Question 218376, if he will include digital leadership in the Major Projects Academy Leadership course.

Mr Francis Maude: In 2010 the Civil Service had long-standing skills shortages. We have sought to address these in various ways including through the Major Projects Leadership Academy and broader work to improve digital skills across Whitehall. Technical understanding of major project delivery forms 25% of the Major Projects Leadership Academy. In consultation with the Government Digital Service, we have recently reviewed this element of the curriculum to ensure that it reflects the most up-to-date thinking on digital leadership.

Staff

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of employees in his Department and the Office of the Prime Minister identify as (a) white or white British, (b) Asian or Asian British, (c) Black or Black British, (d) mixed or multiple ethnic group and (e) another ethnicity.

Mr Francis Maude: The Cabinet Office publishes diversity data on its website, including a breakdown of those who declare an ethnic minority background: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office/about/equality-and-diversity.

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Surveys

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff in his Department reported experiencing bullying or harassment at work in the most recent Civil Service People Survey.

Mrs Helen Grant: According to the 2014 staff survey, 9% of staff in Department for Culture Media and Sport (which includes the Government Equalities Office) reported experiencing bullying or harassment at work. Due to the small numbers of staff involved, the data is not split between disabled or non-disabled staff for data protection purposes.

Internet: Competition

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress the Government has made on increasing competition among internet service providers.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The UK has a highly competitive and open market for Internet Service Providers. There are dozens of companies providing services either using their own network or making use of wholesale products provided by BT. BT’s wholesale access products are open to all Internet Service Providers, meaning that consumers have a range of retail Internet Service Providers to buy broadband services from.

Internet

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he expects all internet connection speeds to be 2Mbps or more in (a) Windsor constituency, (b) South-East England and (c) the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey: According to Ofcom only 3 per cent of UK premises have access to speeds of less than 2Mbps, down from 11 per cent in 2010. As a result of the commercial and government investments, the number of premises with a broadband service below 2Mbps continues to reduce. The government will however, before the end of 2015, make available options to deliver the minimum 2mbps broadband commitment for all qualifying premises.

BBC

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has regular discussions with BBC management on the sources from which the BBC receives external financing.

Mr Edward Vaizey: My Right Hon Friend the Secretary of State has had no regular discussions of this kind. The BBC is operationally independent of Government and it is a duty of the BBC Trust to exercise rigorous stewardship of public money and keep the BBC’s financial needs under review.

Broadband: Advertising

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much his Department has spent on promoting or advertising (a) fibre optic and (b) satellite broadband to the public in each of the last three years.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department has run a national awareness campaign to promote superfast broadband in the financial year 2014-15 only. The campaign ran from December 2014 to March 2015 and did not differentiate between fibre optic and satellite. A total cost of £8 million has been set aside for this campaign to include the media buying costs (e.g. the airtime for TV/press adverts) as well as production costs for adverts (TV/radio/digital/out of home), social media activity and a toolkit of materials for local authorities.  In addition, as part of the Government’s Business is GREAT campaign we have spent £1.667 million on advertising aimed at small businesses to encourage them to take up a grant for superfast broadband connection for their businesses with a supplier of their choice. This campaign ran September - December 2014 and comprised media buying costs (out of home posters, local press advertisements and radio airtime) and production costs (e.g. photography, fees, printing).

Research

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what amount his Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.

Mrs Helen Grant: Information on the total amount of expenditure by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on both research and development and the total departmental spending on services is publically available on gov.uk as part of the Country and Regional Analysis statistical release. This information covers 2009-10 through to 2013-14 and can be found at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2014 This data can be accessed by using either the ‘interactive tables’ or the ‘database’.  The CRA is compiled from departmental spending data submitted to HM Treasury on services, split by sub-functions. This data that each department provides, uses internationally-agreed definitions called the Classifications of the Functions of Government (UN COFOG). These functions include and separately identify expenditure on various Research and Development activities.

Email

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether there are official email addresses in his Department which do not accept emails from members of the public.

Mrs Helen Grant: There are no email addresses in the DCMS which do not accept emails from the public.

House of Commons Commission

ICT

Chi Onwurah: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the effect of the provision of free iPads to hon. Members on the availability of parliamentary digital services on other devices.

John Thurso: I refer the hon. Member to my answer yesterday to Question 227498.

Deputy Prime Minister

Electoral Register: Liverpool

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what steps he has taken to ensure that the number of people on the electoral register in Liverpool does not fall as a result of the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Between financial years 2013/14 and 2014/15 over £160,000 of funding has been provided to the Electoral Registration Officer for Liverpool City Council to support activities aimed at increasing the completeness and accuracy of their register.  Up to £2.5 million is being used to fund national activity, including promoting registration among under registered groups like students and overseas voters. Online registration makes registering to vote more accessible than ever before.

Department of Health

Clinical Commissioning Groups: Cumbria

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding (a) in total and (b) per capita has been allocated for Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group for each year from 2013-14 to 2019-20.

George Freeman: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 06 March 2015.The correct answer should have been:

Clinical commissioning group (CCG) funding has not been decided beyond 2015/16. Notified revenue allocations and per capita allocations for Cumbria CCG are:   YearAllocation £000Per capita £2013/14692,122663,1331,3301,2742014/15677,3241,2992015/16685,6541,313   These figures exclude running cost and Better Care Fund allocations.

George Freeman: Clinical commissioning group (CCG) funding has not been decided beyond 2015/16. Notified revenue allocations and per capita allocations for Cumbria CCG are:   YearAllocation £000Per capita £2013/14692,122663,1331,3301,2742014/15677,3241,2992015/16685,6541,313   These figures exclude running cost and Better Care Fund allocations.

Health Services: North Yorkshire

Sir Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which services the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) declined to fund, in some or all cases, or restricted access to, for patients in their area, which were funded without such restriction for patients living in other CCG areas in 2013 and in each subsequent year.

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected centrally.

Fluoride: Drinking Water

Mr Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the research report Are fluoride levels in drinking water associated with hypothyroidism prevalence in England, published by the University of Kent's Centre for Health Services in February 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England monitors emerging evidence in relation to water fluoridation, and has reviewed this paper with the conclusion that the methodology used is not strong enough to support any change in practice or policy.

Members: Correspondence

Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue a direction to the Chief Executive of NHS Care Services to reply to the letter of 13 February 2015 sent by the right hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling to his company's Head of Communications, Dr Belinda Webb-Blofeld, for urgent response.

Jane Ellison: We understand my Rt. hon. Friend is referring to NSL Care Services.   Departmental offcials have passed my Rt. hon. Friend’s concerns to the local National Health Service.

Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on the merger of Frimley Park NHS Trust and Heatherwood and Wrexham Park NHS Trust; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Frimley Park NHS Foundation Trust and Heatherwood and Wexham Park NHS Foundation Trust merged on 1 October 2014 to create Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust.   Progress since the date of the merger is not collected centrally.   We have written to Mike Aaronson, Chair of the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust informing him of my hon. Friend’s enquiry. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Clinical Trials

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of NHS patients registered for clinical trials in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.

George Freeman: Data is not available on the proportion of National Health Service patients registering interest in participating in clinical trials or the proportion that participate.   Recruitment in England to clinical trials hosted by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN), and total recruitment in England to all trials and other well-designed studies hosted by the CRN is shown in the following table.2011-122012-132013-14Trials49,37256,45560,056All trials and studies595,540637,974604,216

Pharmacy: Internet

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of clinical consultations conducted by online pharmacies.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The General Medical Council (GMC) guidance on remote prescribing makes absolutely clear that doctors must feel satisfied that they can make an adequate assessment, establish a dialogue and obtain the patient’s consent. The GMC expect all doctors to take account of GMC guidance and relevant clinical and other guidelines regardless of how they are prescribing.

Antibiotics

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment Public Health England has made of the effect of remote prescribing of oral antibiotics through online pharmacies on resistance to antibiotics.

Jane Ellison: National Health Service community prescriptions, delivered online and in person, are collated by NHS Business Services Authority and shared with the Health and Social Care Information Centre and Public Health England (PHE), through an open government license. PHE, through the English Surveillance Programme on Antimicrobial Utilisation and Resistance, released the first national report collating antibiotic use and resistance across the healthcare economy in 2014. The report is available at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-surveillance-programme-antimicrobial-utilisation-and-resistance-espaur-report

Pharmacy: Internet

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that online pharmacies adhere to national best practice guidelines.

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what regulatory powers the General Medical Council has to review online prescribing where there is evidence that patients may be being prescribed suboptimal treatment.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The General Medical Council (GMC) guidance on remote prescribing makes absolutely clear that doctors must feel satisfied that they can make an adequate assessment, establish a dialogue and obtain the patient’s consent. The GMC expect all doctors to take account of GMC guidance and relevant clinical and other guidelines regardless of how they are prescribing.

Prescriptions

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the evidential basis is for the limit of three months on the length of time GPs can prescribe medications to patients with existing conditions who are leaving the country.

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on extending beyond three months the length of time for which that GPs can prescribe medications to patients with existing conditions who are leaving the country.

Dr Daniel Poulter: When a doctor prescribes a drug, they are clinically and legally responsible for any results of that decision to prescribe. In view of this it would not be considered good clinical practice for a doctor to prescribe large amounts of drugs to a patient going abroad for an extended period of time, whose progress that general practitioner is not able to monitor.   Any patient who leaves the country for three months or more is no longer considered ordinarily resident and, as such, is not entitled to National Health Service treatment.   No representations have been received asking for this period to be extended.

NHS: Temporary Employment

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent on agency and locum staff in the NHS in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2014-15 to date.

Dr Daniel Poulter: In 2009-10, the National Health Service spent £2.23 billion on “agency and contract”1 staff at NHS foundation trusts and “non NHS” staff (which includes agency and locum staff) at other NHS organisations.   In 2014-15 to date (latest figures are up to end December 2014), the NHS spent £1.3 billion at NHS foundation trusts and £1.1 billion at NHS trusts on agency and contract staff.   Following the Francis report many trusts increased their spend on temporary staffing to meet safe staffing levels. The Department expects trusts to have a strong grip on their finances, and manage their contract and agency staffing spend (including use of locums) responsibly through effective and efficient workforce planning and management and to minimise temporary staffing costs in future years.   Notes: 1The definition of Contract/Agency staff is: “Agency” employee payments for the employment of staff where the staff remain employees of the agency and “Contract staff” where the NHS trust has control over numbers and qualifications of staff (in contrast to a service obtained under contract). “Agency and contract” staffs are either hired via an agency or recruited directly and have a contract. Either way they are not on the payroll like permanent employees. A “Locum” is a term used for temporary doctors (only). We cannot separate our data into locum staff.   22014-15 agency and contract figures are from unaudited quarterly monitoring information up to 31 December 2014 provided by Monitor for foundation trusts and NHS Trust Development Authority for NHS trusts.

HIV Infection

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many finished consultant episodes there were with a (a) primary and (b) secondary diagnosis of HIV infection in (i) England and (ii) each region in each year since 1989.

Jane Ellison: Available data is set out in the attached table. This includes data for England from 1998 and regional data from 2003. 



FCEs- primary & secondary diagnosis of HIV 1998-03
(Excel SpreadSheet, 27.63 KB)

HIV Infection

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to develop the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of HIV among NHS clinicians who do not specialise in HIV; what assessment he has made of the adequacy and extent of training on HIV for such clinicians; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Health Education England has developed a number of e-learning sessions on Sexual Health and HIV across programmes designed for foundation trainees, general practitioners, dentists, radiologists as well as specialists. The programmes cover topics such as HIV testing, the importance of early diagnosis and Oral Manifestations of HIV and AIDS. The content for these programmes is available to all National Health Service employees irrespective of their speciality and includes e-learning resources.   The Department has funded the Medical Foundation for AIDS and Sexual Health to produce resources to support non-specialist clinicians in primary and secondary care services to offer HIV testing to help reduce late diagnosis of HIV. This includes HIV Testing in Practice, an interactive web-based resource for primary care which went live in November 2014.   NHS England commission HIV treatment and care services in-line with a detailed service specification. Non-specialist clinical services, including primary care might be able to deliver parts of the care pathway in discussion with specialist HIV care providers.

Health Services: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2015 to Question 226553, what arrangements for primary care services will apply.

Norman Lamb: People resident in devolved parts of the United Kingdom will remain able to access NHS primary care services in Greater Manchester on the same basis that they do now.

Circle

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what account NHS England took of the performance of Circle in its contract to run Hinchingbrooke Hospital when reaching its decision to award a new contract for imaging services to that company; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that future services provided by Circle are of a high quality.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason Vanguard was given a new NHS contract; what steps he plans to take to ensure that the problems which arose on Vanguard's previous contract with the NHS do not recur and that patient safety is not put at risk; and what assessment he has made of the company's financial liability for its under-performance in respect of that previous contract.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many services formerly provided in hospitals will be provided in mobile units under the contract recently signed by NHS Supply Chain with various private firms to provide operations and diagnostic tests.

Dr Daniel Poulter: NHS Supply Chain has launched a framework agreement for mobile and strategic services. This framework agreement does not constitute a centralised national contract with any providers. Contracting for such services to meet temporary needs and maintain service standards are decisions for individual National Health Service organisations as opposed to politicians and civil servants in Whitehall.   All suppliers on the framework are Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered, hold Monitor licences as a minimum and have been vetted via the Disclosure and Barring Service. They will also have insurance cover to a minimum of £5 million as well as ISO9001 certification.   The CQC registration includes a number of measures which need to be periodically satisfied in order to continue providing services to the NHS. The CQC also has the power to act if it determines that services are not of a sufficient quality.   More generally, we have brought in tougher independent inspections for all hospitals so any service that is not providing the desired quality of care, whether it is run by the NHS or privately, will be forced to turn things around or be put into special measures. The CQC, as the independent regulator of quality and safety, through its rigorous inspection regime is doing exactly what it was established to do.   The NHS Litigation Authority has no record of any claims payments made in connection with negligence incurred by Vanguard Healthcare Ltd, and no assessment has been made of any financial liabilities they may have incurred from previous contracts.

NHS Foundation Trusts

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on plans by Monitor to appoint trust special administrators to take control of a NHS Foundation Trust.

Jane Ellison: The Department does not hold any information on plans by Monitor to appoint trust special administrators to take control of an NHS foundation trust.

NHS: Mergers

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many proposals to merge NHS Trusts have been subject to inquiries by the Competition and Markets Authority; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such merger.

Jane Ellison: Four transactions concerning National Health Service providers have been subject to inquiries by the Competition and Markets Authority. The Department does not hold the information around the cost of such merger inquiries.   The key criterion for the Competition and Markets Authority is ensuring the highest quality services for patients.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost to the public purse was of the Trust Special Administration process at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.

Jane Ellison: Monitor issued a press release on 2 March issuing figures on costs incurred by Monitor for the trust special administrator’s (TSA) regime at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust (MSFT).   This press release outlines that the work of the TSAs to secure safe and sustainable services at MSFT cost Monitor almost £19.5 million, including VAT, over 18 months.   This covers the work to find and implement a solution to the problems at MSFT (£17.35 million), plus the full cost of having the TSAs running the hospitals at the same time (£2.15 million).   All of the figures supplied by Monitor in their press release include VAT because they reflect the bills that Monitor and the trust have paid and will be declared as such in the accounts; however, the net cost of the process to the taxpayer would exclude VAT.   Monitor plans to publish a detailed breakdown of the costs of the TSA regime at MSFT, alongside a report setting out some of the lessons learned, in due course.   A copy of Monitor’s press release is attached. 



Costs incurred by Monitor for TSAs regime at MSFT
(Word Document, 62.46 KB)

Health Services: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of staff who were dismissed for smoking in each NHS trust in Lancashire in 2014.

Dr Daniel Poulter: This information is not collected centrally.

Rickets

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many cases of rickets among children and young people there were in each of the last 10 years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The following table shows a total count of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of rickets and a primary or secondary diagnosis of rickets in England since 2004-05. For the purposes of this parliamentary question children have been defined as aged 0 to 17 and young people have been defined as aged 18 to 24.   This is not a count of patients as the same patient may be admitted more than once in a financial year and the figures are for diagnoses that have resulted in a hospital admission.Primary DiagnosisPrimary or Secondary DiagnosisYear0-1718-240-1718-242004-05785204202005-06772283302006-07846376242007-087910384212008-09958523172009-10664564372010-11704535692011-12732756302012-13644669322013-1436345726

Eyesight: Testing

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will review the Primary Ophthalmic Services Regulations 2008 in order to ensure that entitlement for additional services includes requests made by eligible persons attending special schools.

Dr Daniel Poulter: At present there are no plans to reform the Primary Ophthalmic Services Regulations 2008. It is already the case that under the General Ophthalmic Services Contract Regulations 2008, contractors can contract with NHS England to provide sight testing services within such schools.

McDonalds Restaurants

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department's agreement with McDonald's as a Public Health Partner in its Responsibility Plan included any commitments with regard to (a) the location of McDonald's sites and (b) other local authority planning issues.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including urban planning in the Public Health Responsibility Deal.

Jane Ellison: There are no commitments with McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd through the Public Health Responsibility Deal (RD) with regards to the location of outlets or other local authority planning issues. McDonald’s is committed to eight pledges on food, health at work and physical activity. Information about the RD and partners signed up to pledges is available on the RD website at:   https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/pledges/   In March 2014, Public Health England issued a briefing “Obesity and the environment: regulating the growth of fast food outlets” which addresses the opportunities to limit the number of fast food outlets and gives practical advice to local planners and public health professionals. This briefing is attached.   There are no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of including urban planning in the RD. 



PHE: Healthy people, healthy places briefing
(PDF Document, 775.99 KB)

Social Workers: Training

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects his Department to reach a decision on the daily placement fee for social work students on placement as part of its reform to the education support grant.

Norman Lamb: Following conclusion of the overall Department budget setting process for 2015/16, the Department plans to publish the daily placement fee for social work students on placement by the end of March 2015.

Cancer: Drugs

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to ensure that there is adequate future funding of drugs for people with rare and less common cancers.

George Freeman: Better access to the very latest clinically effective medicines for rarer cancers is a priority, which is why we announced a £160 million boost to the Cancer Drugs Fund at the end of August 2014.   On 12 January 2015, NHS England announced that it plans to increase the level of investment for drugs in the Fund from £280 million in 2014-15 to an expected £340 million in 2015-16.   Since October 2010, the Fund has helped over 60,000 people with cancer to get life-extending drugs that would not otherwise have been available to them.   Under its terms of reference, published on 11 March 2015, the innovative medicines and medical technology review will consider the long term landscape for innovation adoption and how the Cancer Drugs Fund might fit into an integrated specialist commissioning system over the longer term.

Nurses: Foreign Workers

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many non-UK qualified nurses from countries (a) in and (b) not in the EU have worked in the NHS in each year since 2009-10.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold information on the numbers of non-United Kingdom qualified nurses from countries in and not in the European Economic Area who have worked in the National Health Service.

Nurses and Midwives: Training

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) individual applicants and (b) applications in total were received for pre-registration (i) nursing and (ii) midwifery training commissions in each year since 2009-10.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Information referring to the number of individual applicants and applications in total for pre-registration nursing and midwifery training are not collected by the Department.

NHS: Staff

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the average cost to the NHS of employing one (a) nurse, (b) midwife, (c) doctor and (d) GP.

Dr Daniel Poulter: This information is recorded in the following table:Average Costs per Full-Time EquivalentQualified nurse, midwife or health visitor£42,161Midwife£45,936All non-locum hospital and community health services (HCHS) doctors£95,284Consultants£144,967Registrars£64,664Other doctors in training£42,910General practitioner (GP) Partners£105,100Salaried GPs£56,600   Notes: Figures for nurses, midwives, consultants, registrars and other doctors in training relate to 2013/14. Separate figures for qualified nurses are not available. Costs include employer national insurance and pension contributions but not costs such as recruitment and training which are not collected centrally.   The data for GP partners and salaried GPs relates to 2012/13. GPs are not employees of the National Health Service. The average earnings of GP partners and salaried GPs are shown after expenses but before tax.   The figures for HCHS staff and GPs are not directly comparable as GP partners do not pay employer national insurance contributions and their earnings are exclusive of employer pension contributions. The earnings of salaried GPs are exclusive of both employer pension and national insurance contributions.

Diabetes

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) funding and (b) other support NHS England provides to clinical commissioning groups to help improve the quality of care services available to patients in areas with poor diabetes care and outcomes.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups use the NHS England diabetes service specifications.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of NHS England's annual budget is spent on resources to help local clinical commissioning groups improve variations in the quality of diabetes care.

Jane Ellison: As well as NHS England providing clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) with information to compare the quality and outcomes in diabetes care through the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcomes Indicator Set (CCG OIS) and the NHS Outcomes Framework, the National Diabetes Audit measures the effectiveness of diabetes healthcare against the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guidelines and quality standard. NHS Improving Quality, hosted by NHS England, is also working to improve health outcomes for people by providing improvement and change expertise. As part of its ‘Living Longer Lives’ and ‘Enhancing quality of life for people with long term conditions’ work streams, it is working with primary care and CCGs to support improvements and transformational change which will improve the quality of care for people with diabetes.   Data on the proportion of NHS England's annual budget spent on resources to help local CCGs improve variations in the quality of diabetes is not available. Information on improving variation in the quality of diabetes care could potentially be drawn from several budgets but it is not possible to disaggregate it to provide the information requested.   A sample diabetes service specification, designed to meet the NICE diabetes quality standard, was published on the NHS Commissioning Assembly website in July 2014. This was provided for CCGs to use if they choose and so no information is collected on the number of CCGs that use it.

NHS: Drugs

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the level of waste of unused drugs in the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: Information is not held centrally on the annual cost or amount of unused or unnecessary medicines in the National Health Service.   The Department commissioned the York Health Economics Consortium and the School of Pharmacy at the University of London to carry out research to determine the scale, causes and costs of waste medicines in England. The report, Evaluation of the Scale, Causes and Costs of Waste Medicines, was published in November 2010 and is available at:   http://eprints.pharmacy.ac.uk/2605/1/Evaluation_of_NHS_Medicines_Waste__web_publication_version.pdf   This found that the gross cost of unused prescription medicines in primary and community care in the NHS in England in 2009 was estimated to be £300 million a year and that up to £150 million of this was avoidable.   A number of initiatives, led by NHS England, are currently underway to optimise the use of medicines in the NHS and better empower patients.

Diabetes

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the running costs of NHS Diabetes were in each of the last three years before its dissolution.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time staff were employed by NHS Diabetes in each of the last three years before its dissolution.

Jane Ellison: NHS Improving Quality has taken over the functions of NHS Diabetes and does not hold this information.

Neurology

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the role of (a) NHS England and (b) clinical commissioning groups is for commissioning (i) neurological services and (ii) specialised epilepsy services.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to raise awareness of epilepsy in public services and equip staff with appropriate first aid training.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to (a) improve epilepsy patients' access to neuropsychological assessment and care and (b) increase the number of clinical specialists in neuropsychological treatment.

Norman Lamb: No steps have been taken to raise awareness of epilepsy in public services and equip staff with appropriate first aid training. All employers should make an assessment of first aid needs appropriate to the circumstances of the workplace. This would include responding to situations requiring first aid including an epilepsy seizure.   For the majority of people with epilepsy, their condition can be well managed by routine treatment and as such, the provision of services for these patients is the responsibility of local clinical commissioning groups, which are best placed to manage services for local populations. For adults and children that require more specialist care, NHS England commissions services national. The adult specialised neurology specification can be found at the following link:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-d/d04/   The paediatric neurosciences specification can be found here:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-e/e09/   Specialised service specifications should be read in conjunction with other supporting documents such as the manual for prescribed specialised services.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance The diagnosis and management of the epilepsies in adults and children in primary and secondary care published in January 2012 sets out best practice for clinicians on the diagnosis, treatment care and support of people with epilepsy. In addition to drug based treatments, the guidance also recommends that a range of support that should be in place for people with epilepsy including access to psychological support. The Department does not have data on the number of clinical specialists in neuropsychological treatment.

Tomography

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many computerised tomography simulators were operational in the NHS in each of the last 10 years; and how many operational computerised tomography simulators in the NHS are more than 10 years old.

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected centrally.

NHS: Surveys

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason the question in the NHS Staff Survey relating to the availability of hand washing materials was removed (a) as a key indicator for the 2014 NHS Staff Survey and (b) as a question from the survey altogether.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The NHS Staff Survey Advisory Group (the Group) reviews the questions in the NHS Staff Survey to ensure they remain relevant and useful to the service.   The Group concluded that the question in the NHS Staff Survey relating to the availability of hand washing materials, introduced to help National Health Service organisations reduce the prevalence of e.g. infections from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and clostridium difficile (c-difficile), was now of limited value to trusts.   This is because responses to the question had shown a very big increase and had remained high over the last couple of years and because activity can vary at ward level and staff survey results are not usually reported to ward level but at directorate or department level. In addition, more accurate data regarding the availability of infection control measures is picked up through other mechanisms for example patient safety audits.   NHS organisations have the option of including additional local questions in their survey to cover issues of particular local interest, so any organisations who feel that hand washing and the availability of cleaning materials may still be an issue for them are able to continue to include the question if they so wish.

Mental Health Services: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many tier 4 CAMHS beds there were in England in (a) April 2010, (b) April 2011, (c) April 2012 and (d) February 2015.

Norman Lamb: We are unable to provide information on Tier 4 bed numbers that predate the setting-up of NHS England. In April 2014 NHS England commissioned 1,386 beds and between August 2014 and February 2015 a further 53 new beds were opened, bringing the total to 1,439.

Mental Health Services: Nurses

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 4.7 of his Department's publication, A mandate for the Government to Health Education England, published in May 2014, what progress Health Education England has made on the development of a bespoke mental health postgraduate nursing programme; and whether that  programme will be in operation by September 2015.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Government’s mandate to Health Education England (HEE) for 2015/16 was published on 12 March 2015 reflecting updates to HEE’s objectives.   HEE is now working with partners to seek to develop a bespoke mental health multi-disciplinary e-learning package for introduction in September 2015, focussing on the mental health awareness and skills required in the accident and emergency team. HEE is working in collaboration with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine to create a multi-professional e-learning package.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2014 to Question 218413, for what reason the amounts in that Answer were supplied in cash terms and not real terms.

Norman Lamb: Information on the income mental health trusts receive, in either cash or real terms, is not held centrally. Each mental health trust is required to publish its income and expenditure accounts alongside its annual report. These figures will be published in accordance with accounting standards and will therefore be published in cash terms.   The Department provided information in Written Answer 218413 on the aggregate expenditure of mental health disorders by primary care trusts, for financial years 2008-09 to 2012-13. These data are set out in the table below with an additional column showing real terms expenditure for the financial years 2008-09 to 2012-13.   Financial YearExpenditure £ billion (cash terms)Expenditure £ billion (real terms, 2013-14 prices)2008-099.7910.882009-1010.6111.492010-1110.9611.552011-1211.1611.552012-1311.2811.49 Source: NHS England Programme Budget Data

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) adult secure, (b) adult acute inpatient, (c) secure children's and (d) children's acute inpatient mental health beds were (i) opened and (ii) closed in each year since 2009-10.

Norman Lamb: We do not hold this information in the format requested.   NHS England publishes historical bed data on its website which can be accessed via the following link:   http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/bed-availability-and-occupancy/bed-data-overnight/